Here We Go Again
by loulouflowerpower
Summary: 11/OC-Time Lady. The Doctor has regenerated, leaving the Hatter to take care of him as they crash into the garden of Amelia Pond, the little Scottish girl who's life doesn't make sense. How will the Hatter deal with a new Doctor? How will the Time Lords marriage effect Amy? And what about the cracks in time that keep popping up?
1. Chapter 1 The Eleventh Hour, Part 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or any of its characters, I only own my OC Time Lady, the Hatter.**_

 _ **This is the fifth instalment of the series, so I suggest that if you are just finding this one now that you go back and read the first four instalments first. Any questions, feel free to PM or ask on my Tumblr, which is under the same penname, and I'll be more than happy to answer any questions.**_

 _ **Now, the Hatter is in her Tenth regeneration. She has straight blonde hair with a side fringe, baby blue eyes, stands around 5'9 in height, has quite pale skin, high cheek bones, and has a Scottish accent.**_

 _ **And she usually always wears on a day to day bases a plain white button up shirt, military green leather trousers that she has tucked into a pair of brown, lace up riding boots with a small heel that come to just below her knees, a military style green brass button up waistcoat, a rainbow bowtie, and matching rainbow braces, not to mention her military green Pork-Pie hat. She also wears a silver pendent with Gallifreyan markings on it at all times and an engagement ring with a single rounded White-Point Star diamond sitting in the middle of the band that's also covered all around with smaller, White-Point Stars, and her wedding ring that has tiny, Earth diamonds covering the band.**_

 _ **Anyway, on with the story :)**_

….

 _ **The Eleventh Hour, Part One**_

"You bloody idiot!" the Hatter shouted as she struggled to try holding onto a railing with one hand, the other reaching out for the Doctor's hand, who was only just grasping on to the edge of the TARDIS doors with the sonic in his mouth, "What were you thinking, opening the TARDIS doors while in the middle of crashing!" she winced as the console sparked loudly behind her. She shook her head, "And you wonder why you never passed your TARDIS examines!"

The time machine flew over the top of London, completely out of control as the Doctor struggled to try pulling himself back up into the safety of the console room, "It's not my fault!" he somehow managed to get out around the sonic screwdriver, "My heads not working, it's all fuzzy!"

She rolled her eyes, still looking annoyed as she stretched her arm out further, "You've got that right," she muttered more to herself then to him, sighing in relief as she finally managed to grab his left wrist, trying to pull him up, "Dear me," she groaned after a moment of struggling, "I see you haven't got any lighter since regenerating, either that or your ego really needs to go on a diet…probably the last one!"

He glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes widening in alarm as he spotted Big Ben coming towards him, "Get to the console!" he suddenly called urgently, "Take us up!"

She frowned at him and raised her eyes, and let out a string of curse words in Gallifreyan as she abounded trying to pull him up, jumping to her feet, and struggled back up to the ramp, dashing up to the controls. She grabbed a lever and pulled it, causing the controls to spark violently, and she ducked as she looked back over to the doors, pleased to see the Doctor narrowly miss the top of Big Ben as they flew over it.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she called as she hurried back over to the doors, dropping to her knees, and reached out again for his wrist.

The Doctor glanced up at her, looking extremely relieved, "Have I ever told you how much I love you today?"

She laughed, shaking her head fondly, "Ah, right as rain, then".

Finally, he managed to pull himself back up into the console, quickly closing the doors behind him as they both fell against them with sighs of relief, both feeling quite tired from the effort, but despite that they exchanged smiles. Suddenly, the ship jolted, sending them flying as the Time Lady yelped loudly in surprise.

…

The TARDIS crashed landed in the garden of an old house in the middle of the night, destroying a small shed that they had landed on, thick smoke pouring out all around it. The moment it had crashed, the Time Lords found themselves being tossed backwards through the ship, much to their displeasure, but luckily they had a soft, if not very wet and surprising landing, due to ending up in the swimming pool…which also happened to be in the library.

Somehow, they managed to pull themselves back up to the console, getting the doors open, sending smoke and stem billowing out, and the Time Lady found a grappling hook, which she threw out the doors, sighing in relief when it caught on something. She quickly pulled herself up the rope, grumbling as the brim of her soaking wet hat, now floppy due to the water, fell into her eyes, not to mention her fringe, but she pushed on and soon enough found herself looking over the edge of the time machine, feeling the cool night air on her wet face, which was quite nice.

Almost at once she noticed that there landing hadn't gone unnoticed as she caught sight of a little girl with red hair and green eyes, wearing a white nightgown, over which she had a red cardigan, and gumboots staring wide eyed at her, though, she noted that she didn't seem to be very frightened.

The blonde immediately gave her a friendly smile and pulled herself completely out of the TARDIS, swinging one leg over the doorway, and then the next, carefully balancing herself, "Hello," she said brightly to the girl.

The girl blinked at her, "Hello…" she greeted slowly.

The Hatter's smile grew even wider as she noticed her Scottish accent, "Ooh, lovely accent," she remarked, giving her a approving look, before something banged loudly from inside the TARDIS, and she looked back down into the ship, "Need any help, sweetheart?" she called down.

"All good!" the Doctor replied, and a moment later his hand appeared right beside her, and then the next, before his soaking wet head popped up. His eyes found the girl, breaking into a small smile, "Could I have an apple?" he asked her suddenly, "All I can think about…apples," he shook his head, glancing at the Time Lady, who gave him an amused look, "I love apples. Maybe I'm having a craving?" he brightened slightly at the thought, "That's new. Never had cravings before," he pulled himself up, swinging one leg over the edge of the TARDIS, and looked back down through the ship, "Whoa! Look at that!"

The Time Lady sighed slightly as she looked back down, "The old girl is certainly not going to be happy," she commented and patted one of the open doors.

"Are you okay?" the girl questioned, eyeing there tattered clothing and dishevelled, wet hair.

"Oh, nice accent!" the Doctor grinned, nudging the Hatter's side as he gestured in-between them, and swung his other leg over the edge, "Just had a fall," he continued to the girl, "All the way down there, right to the library".

"It was quite a climb," the Hatter added, "I didn't think I was going to make it for a moment there. I'm afraid that I'm not the most physically strong in this regeneration".

The girl frowned at them, "You're soaking wet".

He shrugged, "We were in the swimming pool".

"You said you were in the library".

"Yeah, and so was the swimming pool," the Time Lady nodded, looking amused.

The girl seemed to sigh, giving them a careful look, "Are you the police?"

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, "Why, did you call the police?" they asked her, leaning closer towards her.

"Did you come about the crack in my wall?"

The Hatter slipped off the edge and stepped closer to her, giving her a concerned look as she knelt down so that they were eye level, "What type of crack…?" she began, only to be cut off by the Doctor crying out in pain.

"Argh!" he groaned loudly, drawing there attention as he jolted off the edge, and landing on his side on the ground beside them, clutching at his chest.

The blonde gave him a sympathetic look as she turned to him, "Oh, dear," she shook her head, eyeing him, "I see that the post regenerative pains have started".

The girl gave him a worried look, "Are you okay, mister?"

He pulled himself back up to his knees, still clutching at his chest, "No, I'm fine," he grimaced slightly in pain, waving her concern away, "This is all perfectly norm…" he trailed off and coughed, opening his mouth, letting a burst of regeneration energy swirl out of his mouth, and into the air.

They watched as it faded, the girls eyes widening slightly again, "Who are you?"

"I don't know yet," he replied, smiling slightly as he held out his hands, and they glowed with more energy, "I'm still cooking," the girl frowned at him, "Does it scare you?"

"No, it just looks a bit wired," she shook her head.

"No," the Hatter smiled softly at her as she straightened, meeting the girls eyes, "We meant the crack in your wall," she clarified, "Are you afraid of it?"

"Yes," she admitted.

The Time Lady gave her a comforting look, "Don't worry, we'll sort it out," her eyes twinkled as she leaned closer to her, lowering her voice as she nodded at the Doctor, "Or though, something tells me that someone is going to need a snack _first_ ".

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, "Are you talking about me, dear?" his eyes narrowed as he looked in-between them, but his tone was light.

She pretended to gasp as she straightened, a hand flying to the middle of her chest, "Why, I would never do such a thing, sweetheart," she mockingly defended herself.

He smiled and waggled his finger at her, "Oh, of _course_ you wouldn't," he shook his head and suddenly jumped to his feet, looking at the girl, "Well then, no time to lose," he commented, "I'm the Doctor and she's the Hatter," he nodded to the blonde, and gave the girl a little wave, "Do everything we tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wonder off," he turned and began strolling off, looking determined, and…right into a tree, knocking himself to the ground.

The Hatter coughed, struggling to hold back a laugh as she stepped over to him, looking down at him, "I think someone put a tree there, Doctor," she remarked quietly, her voice shaking with supressed laughter.

"You alright?" the girl joined the Time Lady, looking down at him.

"Early days," he replied, frowning slightly as he looked back up at them, "Steering's a bit off".

"Well, I do hope it's not going to be permeant," the Time Lady remarked, still struggling not to laugh as she held out a hand to help him up, "Because it's just to amusing".

…

Eventually, the girl led them up to her house, and through to her kitchen, leaving them in the doorway as she fetched the Doctor an apple, while they glanced around curiously.

"If you're a Doctor and a Hatter, why does your box say 'Police?'" the girl questioned as she eyed them almost suspiciously, turning back to them.

The Doctor grabbed the apple in her hand, giving it a quick sniff, before taking a bite. He chewed it twice before spitting it out, his eyes still fixed on the girl, who followed the bit of apple, looking disgusted. The Time Lady sighed, shaking her head, not in the slightest bit surprised. He coughed, holding up the apple as if it had offended him, "That's disgusting," he grimaced, "What is that?"

The blonde took the apple, tilting her head at it, and took a bite, "Oh, lovely," she smiled after a moment of chewing, quickly swallowing as the Doctor gave her a look as if she was insane.

The girl frowned at him, "An apple".

"Apple's rubbish," he shook his head, still casting the Hatter looks, "I hate apples".

"You said you _loved_ them".

The Hatter rolled her eyes, nudging his side, "Don't pay much attention to what he thinks he likes," she advised her, taking another bite of the apple, and chewing, "He really has no idea himself at this point".

"Do so!" the Doctor argued, sounding childish, and she raised her eyebrows at him in amusement, "I like yoghurt," he turned back to the girl, "Yoghurt's my favourite. Give me yoghurt".

The girl sighed, casting him a look, and hurried over to the fridge. She pulled it open and grabbed a small container, quickly passing it to him. He pulled the lid off and tipped it into his mouth, almost immediately spitting it out, sending it flying past the girl, who looked even more disgusted. Even the Hatter, who had just taken another bite of her apple, cringed and sat the fruit on the closest kitchen unit, suddenly going off it.

"I hate yoghurt," he announced, passing the containing back to the girl as the Time Lady, unable to stand looking at his mouth, which was covered in yoghurt, grabbed a tea towel, and chucked it at him, "It's just stuff with bits in it!"

The girl sighed, "You said it was your favourite".

"New mouth, new rules," he shrugged, using the towel to wipe his mouth, but managing to make an even bigger mess of his chin by simply smearing it. The Hatter shook her head and grabbed the towel, quickly cleaning him up as he gave her a soft smile, managing to snag a kiss to her hand as she pulled away. He looked back to the girl, "It's like eating after cleaning your teeth," he explained, "Everything tastes wrong…argh!"

He suddenly shouted and twitched violently on the spot, smacking his forehead in the process as he seemed to calm down after a moment. He stumbled as he blinked in surprise, casting the Time Lady a slightly embarrassed look, as if checking to see if she had seen it, which, of course she had. It was rather hard not to notice really, and she gave him a mildly concerned look as she lightly battered his hands away from his damp forehead, gently touching the spot he had slapped.

"What is it?" the girl asked in alarm, eyeing the Doctor, "What's wrong with you?" she glanced at the blonde, seeming to feel that she was perhaps the more sane one of the two, which, at this point, the Hatter couldn't blame her, "Is he alright?"

"Wrong with me?" the Doctor gave her a mock offended look, dragging his eyes away from the Time Lady, "It's not _my_ fault. Why can't you give me any decent food? You're Scottish, fry something," he nodded at the Hatter, "Hatter, teach her how to be properly Scottish," he told her in a tone as if to say that she had been purposely holding back on him.

The Hatter rolled her eyes at him, chucking the tea towel onto one of the benches, "Doctor, I'm not even _properly_ Scottish," she reminded him, "I just have the accent and perhaps a few personality traits".

He stared at her blankly, "Isn't that enough?"

She opened and closed her mouth, before sighing heavily, "Oh, why do I bother," she muttered, shaking her head in mild exasperation, but there was a hint of amusement as she looked back to the girl, "Do you have a frying pan?" she questioned.

….

Once the girl had located a frying pan, the Hatter set to work frying bacon at the stove, despite already knowing that the Doctor was probably just going to end up spitting it out. While she was doing that, the girl ran upstairs to grab them a clean, fluffy towel each to dry their hair with, passing one to the Doctor, who took it and began drying his hair, and sat the second on the table for the Time Lady.

"Ah, thank you," the blonde smiled across at her as she flipped the bacon, "I do apologise for taking over your kitchen like this, but I really couldn't sit back and watch a child cook. I'm not Petunia Dursley, after all".

The girl glanced over to the Doctor, who was busy wondering around the rest of the kitchen, pulling out draws and going through them, while one hand ruffled his hair with the towel. She stepped closer to the blonde, "Is he…sick?" she frowned slightly, lowering her voice.

The Hatter blinked in mild surprise, following her gaze, "He has been recently," she finally replied quietly, choosing her words carefully, "But the worst parts mostly over now," she reached over to her and pattered her shoulder gently, "Don't worry".

She eyed her curiously, "But _you_ don't look sick?"

"Well, that's because I promised not to get sick," she smiled down at her, a hint of amusement in her tone, "And I always keep my promises".

"How can you promise not to get sick?"

"Ah, a very good question, and I suppose it rather depends on the sickness. In this case, I was lucky enough to avoid it".

"You're lucky," the girl remarked.

The Time Lady laughed softly, glancing over at the Doctor, remembering how determined he had been that she wouldn't regenerate with him, "Oh, believe me, I know," she gave herself a shake and turned back to the stove, "Would you mind grabbing me a plate?" she glanced at the girl.

She nodded and rushed over to one of the cupboards, grabbing a plate, and hurried back. The Hatter took the plate and quickly transported the rashes of bacon onto it, turning off the stove, and stepped over to the Doctor, who was fiddling with two spoons, giving him a light smack on his hand.

"Ow!" he yelped and dropped the spoons, turning to her with wide, confused eyes, "What was that for?"

She gave him a stern look, "That's for messing around with other people's belongings without permission," she scolded lightly, "Now, sit down before it gets cold," she pointed over to the kitchen table.

Knowing better then to argue, he did as he was told, and sat down as she sat the plate in front of him, "Ah!" his eyes brightened in delight as he looked down at it, "Bacon!"

"Don't say I never do anything nice for you," the Hatter commented as she took her damp hat off, sitting it on the table, and grabbed her own towel.

"I can think of a few nice things you've done for me recently," he slyly looked across her at her, his eyes twinkling.

Luckily, the towel hid most of her blush as she waved a finger at him, dropping her voice so that only he could hear, "Innocent ears present, sweetheart," she coughed, nodding over to the girl, who had taken a sit across the table from him.

"Oh, right," he cleared his throat, grabbing his knife and fork, and cut a piece of bacon. He put it in his mouth, and almost at once spat it out again, practically clawing at his tongue to remove it, "Bacon?" he grimaced in distaste as the girl frowned at him, " _That's_ bacon?" he leaned forwards, casting a accusing look back and forth between the girl and the blonde, who had lowered the towel to watch, "Are you trying to poison me?"

The Hatter gave him a very serious look, "I just might by the end of tonight, Doctor".

….

Next, they moved onto baked beans, which the Hatter reluctantly agreed to cook, only doing so because she knew the Doctor would end up getting the girl to cook. She made a face as she stirred the pot on the stove, never having been fond of the food herself, and she could already see what was going to happen next.

"Ah, you see?" the Doctor remarked as he stood by the stove, watching the Time Lady happily, not seeming to notice the look she threw him, "Beans," he smiled as he retook his seat at the table.

The Hatter spooned some of the contents of the pot onto a plate, and sat it in front of him, giving him an overly sweet smile as she did so. He paused, giving her a slightly wary look, knowing better than anyone that, that smile usually meant someone was going to get slapped, or she knew something was going to happen, and she felt he deserved it.

"Enjoy, sweetheart," she told him pleasantly, taking a seat at the end of the table, and resting her chin on the palm of her hand, watching him.

He really didn't like the twinkle in her eyes and he continued to watch her carefully as he picked up his spoon, and scooped some beans up, and into his mouth…only to spring up a second later, running over to the sink, spitting the mouthful out as the poor girl, who had watched the entire time, looked as if she was about to be sick.

"Beans are evil," he looked back to them, looking very, very serious, "Bad, _bad_ beans".

The Time Lady rolled her eyes as she rubbed the girls back, casting her a concerned look, "Well, I could have told you that," she shook her head, "Beans are, after all, the Voldemort of the canned food world".

"Why didn't you tell me, then?"

"Oh, like you would have listen," she laughed, shrugging, "Besides, you made me cook them, and I figured I might as well get some payback for not letting me regenerate," she raised her eyebrows at him, "Perhaps bread and butter would be easier?"

He broke into a broad smile, clapping his hands, before pointing at her, "Now you're talking!"

She cast him an amused look at the girl jumped up and run over to one of the cupboards, grabbing the butter, the bread, a butter knife, and a plate. She quickly grabbed a slice of bread and spread butter over it, handing it to the Doctor eagerly, or though she eyed him slightly.

He took it and gave the bread a sniff, before taking a bite…suddenly, he stood and marched out of the room with the plate, looking personally insulted as they heard the front door open, the sound of a plate smashing, and a cat meowing loudly as if something had hit it, "And stay out!" he shouted, closing the door with a bang, and re-entering the kitchen.

The Hatter closed her eyes briefly, "What, may I ask, did that plate ever do to you, Doctor?" she opened her eyes, giving him a tired look as he began pacing the room, "Not to mention the poor cat you probably scared to death".

"Oh, it had it coming," he muttered darkly, giving her a serious look, and she nodded slowly, looking amused.

The girl opened the fridge and looked inside, "We've got some carrots," she informed him.

"Oh, dear…" the Time Lady groaned softly.

"Carrots?" the Doctor exclaimed, sounding outraged as he stared at her, "Are you insane?"

"No, sweetheart, but I think you are," the blonde commented as she stood, moving over to the fridge, "Here, let me see…" she examined the contents, her eyes brightening as she opened the freezer part, "Ah, brilliant," she grinned, grabbing a frozen box of fish fingers, moving down to the main part of the fridge, "Now, I suppose I could always make it from scratch…" she muttered, before catching sight of something in the door, "Oh, good, we can use the cheat stuff," she grabbed a carton of custard, and closed the door with her hip, her hands already full as she looked back to the other two, "Fish fingers and custard, that's what you need".

The Doctor stared at her, his eyes traveling down to what she had in her arms as the girl grimaced, "Fish fingers and custard?" he repeated, sounding startled by the thought.

She shrugged, "My Second body went through a similar crises when she regenerated, and the only thing she found enjoyable was fish fingers in custard".

Still not looking entirely convinced, he shrugged and sat at the table.

….

The Hatter smiled, feeling quite pleased with herself as she watched the Doctor happily dip fish fingers into a large bowl of custard across the table from her and the girl, who were sharing a tub of vanilla ice cream. It wasn't quite how she might have normally taken it, but she had managed to convince the girl to try adding jelly babies into the tub. They both laughed as the Doctor lifted the bowl of custard and drunk from it, sitting it back on the table to reveal a custard moustache.

"That's an interesting look, sweetheart," she grinned at him.

He leaned across the table towards her, waggling his eyebrows, "Do I get a kiss, dear?"

"I'm sorry, but my Mother made sure that my nanny taught me never to play with my food".

He laughed and wiped his hand across his mouth, removing the moustache as the girl looked in-between them, "You're funny," she commented, looking amused.

"Am I?" the Doctor brightened, smiling at her, "Good. Funny's good".

"Better then grumpy," the Time Lady added, giving him a pointed look, thinking about his First body, "So, what's your name?" she glanced at the girl, scooping a bit of ice cream into her mouth.

"Amelia Pond".

"Oh, that's a brilliant name," they smiled broadly at her, "Amelia Pond. Like a name in a fairy tale," he cast a look around the room, "Are we in Scotland, Amelia?"

The Hatter sniffed the air curiously, shaking her head, "Nope".

Amelia nodded in agreement, sighing slightly, "Had to move to England," she told them, "It's rubbish".

"What about your parents?" the Time Lady asked, frowning slightly as she glanced up at the ceiling, slightly concerned, "Are they here? I can't imagine that they would have slept through all of this noise, let alone be happy about a couple of strangers in there house".

"I don't have a Mum and Dad," she shook her head sadly, glancing down, "Just an Aunt".

"I don't even have an Aunt," the Doctor informed her, trying to cheer her up.

"You're lucky," both the Hatter and Amelia nodded to him, laughing as they realised what they had done, and the Time Lady raised her hand for a high five, which the girl happily returned, "But, on a serious note," the Hatter continued, tilting her head at the girl, "Where's your Aunt now?"

Amelia shrugged, "She's out".

"And she left you all alone?" both Time Lords frowned, exchanging a quick look.

"I'm not scared," she defended.

"Course you're not," the Doctor agreed, "You're not scared of anything! Box falls out of the sky, man and woman falls out of a box, man eats fish custard," he held up a fisher finger covered in custard to prove his point, "And look at you, just sitting there," he raised his eyebrows, "So you know what we think?"

"What?"

The Hatter smiled at her gently, bopping the tip her nose in an attempt to keep things light, "That must be quite a frightening crack in your wall".

…

Amelia led them upstairs and into her bedroom, where the Time Lords immediately noticed the curved crack that seemed to dip slightly in the middle on the back wall of the room. They moved closer to it, examining it carefully, running their fingers across it.

"You've had some cowboys in here," the Doctor remarked, before glancing back to Amelia, who watched from the doorway, holding an apple, "Not actual cowboys…though that _can_ happen," he finished, seeming to rethink what he had just said.

The Hatter nudged his side, giving him a look, "Yeah, why don't you add that to the list of childhood nightmares she'll probably grow up to have," she muttered to him, shaking her head.

"I used to hate apples," Amelia told them, looking down at the apple in her hands as they looked back to her, "So my Mum put faces on them," she frowned slightly and stepped over to them, handing the Doctor the apple.

He took it and turned it over, exchanging a soft smile with the Time Lady as they looked at the smiley face that Amelia had carved into the skin.

"She sounds lovely, Amelia," the blonde looked at her, giving her a small smile, thinking about the phase that her youngest son had gone through where he had refused to eat his dinner, so she had done the same thing, making a large smiley face, or a face with a tongue sticking out on his plate. Her Mother had told her that she was just being silly, but she had found it quite amusing.

"I'll keep it for later," the Doctor nodded to the girl as he tossed it up in the air, before slipping it inside his pocket as they focused on the crack once more, "This wall is solid and the crack doesn't go all the way through it," he leaned closer to the wall, running his fingers over it again as he glanced at the Hatter, "So here's a thing…where's the draught coming from?"

The Hatter sighed and looked back at him, "Do you still have the sonic on you?" she asked, unsure if he had fallen out during their trip in the swimming pool.

"Ah!" he exclaimed and reached inside his pocket, withdrawing it, and flashing it at the crack, "Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey," he said quickly as he checked the results, showing it to the Time Lady, "You know what this crack is?" he looked back to Amelia.

"What?" Amelia looked in-between them.

"…it's a crack," he looked back to it.

The Hatter rolled her eyes slightly at his explanation, "What he means, is that if you were to…say, knock this wall down," she gestured to the wall, glancing at Amelia to make sure she was still following, "The crack would still stay in the same place, because the crack isn't actually in the wall at all".

She frowned and looked up at them, "Where is it then?"

"Everywhere," they answered, growing even more worried with the more they learnt about the crack, "In everything," they exchanged a look, glancing back to the crack, eyeing it carefully, "It's a split in the skin of the world," they tapped on either side of the crack, "Two pars of space that should never have touched, pressed together right here in the wall of your bedroom…"

The Time Lady pressed her ear against the wall, listening closely, "Can you sometimes hear…?" she began, glancing over her shoulder.

"A voice?" Amelia cut across her, "Yes".

She nodded and stepped back from the wall, "We're going to need a glass…" she muttered more to herself then to the others.

The Doctor spun around, his eyes sweeping the room, before he caught sight of a glass on Amelia's bedside table. He darted across to it and grabbed it, his arm gave a funny little jerk, sending water flying over his shoulder.

"We'll clean that up later," the Hatter sighed to Amelia, not being able to wait until he had finally moved past regenerating. It was certainly causing a lot more mess and trouble then it ought to.

They watched as he glanced down at the puddle of water, shrugging slightly as he hurried back over to the wall, pressing the glass against the wall, and leaning closer towards it, listening, "Prisoner Zero?" he remarked after a moment.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," Amelia nodded, and the Time Lady looked in-between them thoughtfully, "That's what I heard," she frowned, looking confused, "What does it mean?"

He continued listening as the Hatter put the pieces together, "It means…" she started slowly, eyeing the wall, "…that on the other side of that crack, there must be a prison," the Doctor stepped back, "And they've lost a prisoner".

The Doctor looked at the girl, "And you know what that means?"

"What?"

"You need a better wall," he sat the glass down, and he grabbed a desk that was against the wall, picking it up, and moving it out of the way as the Hatter took Amelia's hand, pulling her off to the side, "The only way to close the breach is to open it all the way," he continued, "The forces will invert and it'll snap itself shut or…" he trailed off, glancing at Amelia.

Amelia looked in-between them, sensing there hesitation, "What?"

The Hatter turned around to face her, leaning down so that they were eye level, still holding her hand, "Amelia, you know how adults say that everything is going to be okay, and you think that they're lying, just so you're not afraid?" she asked her gently.

She sighed, rolling her eyes slightly, "Yes".

She gave her a small, comforting smile, "Everything is going to be okay, and I promise," she made her voice sound bright, almost cheerful so as not to worry the girl to much more as she straightened, turning back around to the Doctor, who had watched there interaction with a small, soft smile, "Yes, sweetheart?" she raised her eyebrows at him, placing herself in front of Amelia.

"I forgot how good you are with kids," he replied, before giving himself a shake, and turned back to the wall, aiming his sonic at it. The crack glowed and a bright white light shone between it, when it slowly opened fully across the wall, revealing a darkened room with what looked like a prison cell.

"Prisoner Zero has escaped," a loud, deep voice echoed out to them and the Hatter gave Amelia's hand a squeeze, feeling her move closer towards her as the Doctor stepped forward, "Prisoner Zero has escaped".

"Shh, it's okay," the Time Lady murmured to the girl, before raising her voice, calling through the crack, "Hello, there".

"Hellooo!" the Doctor tried when there was no reply.

Suddenly, a large blue eyeball appeared in the space, causing the Doctor to jump back with a start, grabbing the Hater's free hand, as she pulled Amelia further behind her.

"What's that?" Amelia gasped, having caught a glimpse of it before being pulled out of sight.

A flash of light flew out of the space and hit the Doctor, causing him to double over, and fall onto the floor by the bed as the crack sealed itself.

"There we are," the Hatter smiled broadly as she looked down at Amelia, "I told you it would be okay," she glanced back over to the wall, "And not to mention close".

"Good as new," the Doctor added, grinning up at her.

"What's that thing?" Amelia stared, wide eyed at the wall, sounding fearful as she looked at the Hatter, holding her hand tighter, "Was that Prisoner Zero?"

"No," they shook their heads, glancing at her, "We think that was Prisoner Zero's guard".

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out the psychic paper, waving it around, "Whatever it was, it sent me a message," he informed them, "Psychic paper," he flipped it open and it glowed blue, "Takes a lovely little message," he frowned slightly as he read aloud, "'Prisoner Zero has escaped,'" he looked at the Hatter, who also frowned, "But why tell us?"

The Time Lady tilted her head thoughtfully, looking around, "Unless…" she trailed off, trying to keep the alarm out of her voice.

"Unless…what?" Amelia looked back and forth between them.

The Doctor meet the Hatter's eyes, thinking the same thing, "Unless Prisoner Zero escaped through here," he frowned, shaking his head, "But he couldn't have. We'd know".

They moved back out onto the landing, the Time Lords looking around the hall, "But surly I would have noticed," the Hatter remarked, frowning as she glanced at the Doctor, "You, I can understand. You're still new, everything's not quite working yet, but me?" she shook her head, looking frustrated at herself.

"And there's your answer," he looked at her, smiling slightly, "You've been so busy trying to look after me, and Amelia," he nodded down to the girl, who she was still holding hands with, "That you have got distracted".

She blinked at him, giving him an odd look, "That's what my Father said," she said softly, and he blinked in surprise, not having heard what her Father had said to her at the Naismith mansion, "He said I always got distracted so easily, even as a child," she took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly, and nodded as she reopened them, "Okay, focus…" she muttered to herself, looking around the landing, her eyes narrowing, "There's…something right there, in the corner of my eye…"

Slowly, she and the Doctor turned on the spot, looking down the end of the hall, trying to break through a Perception Filter that had been placed on the door at the end of the hall, when the Cloister Bell suddenly sounded outside from the TARDIS, and they both jumped, startled.

The Doctor grabbed the Hatter's hand and they sprinted off down the hall, Amelia right behind them, "No!" they shouted urgently, running down the stairs, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!" they reached the bottom on the stairs, running for the doors, and threw them open, "We've got to get back in there!" they continued as they ran across the front garden, "The engines are phasing! It's going to burn!"

"But it's just a box!" Amelia called, right on their heels as they reached the TARDIS, frowning at it, "How can a box have engines?"

"That's because it's not _just_ a box," the Hatter told her over her shoulder, helping the Doctor to undo the grappling hook, "It's actually a time machine…oh, and a space ship".

"What, a real one?" she questioned, doubtfully, "You've got a _real_ time machine?"

They managed to undo the hook and began quickly collecting up the rest of the rope, "Not for much longer if we can't get her stabilised," the Doctor glanced back over to her as they chucked the rope and hook back inside the TARDIS, "Five minute hop into the future should do it".

The Time Lady cast the TARDIS a wary look, "Just as long as the console isn't to destroyed," she remarked quietly, and he paused, not seeming to have considered just how much damage had been caused.

Amelia watched them for a moment, "Can I come?" she asked hopefully.

"Not safe in here," he shook his head, "Not yet," he looked back over to her, giving her a small smile, "Five minutes, give us five minutes. We'll be right back".

"People always say that," she sighed heavily, dropping her eyes to the ground.

The Time Lords paused in what they were doing and stepped over to her, crouching down to her level, "Are we people?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her as the Time Lady gave her a comforting smile, "Do we even look like people?" she meet there eyes, "Trust us, we're the Doctor and the Hatter".

She smiled slowly at them and the Hatter ruffled her hair as the Doctor straightened, and ran over to the TARDIS, climbing back onto the edge. He looked back to Amelia, returning her smile, before grabbing the rope, "Geronimo!" he shouted, jumping down into the ship, the sound of something hitting water echoing up to them.

"Amelia, look at me," the blonde brought the girls attention back to her, meeting her eyes, "I promise you, we will come back, okay?" her eyes twinkled, "And I always keep my promises, remember?"

And with that, the Time Lady turned and followed after the Doctor, slamming the doors closed behind her as they dematerialised.

…

The TARDIS materialised back in Amelia's garden after their quick hop into the future, this time the proper way up. The Time Lords threw the doors open, smoke billowing out around them as they stumbled out, covering their mouths and noses.

The Hatter coughed as the doors closed behind them, quickly coming to a stop as she looked around to find that it was day time, and she was quite sure that the garden had been messier the last time they had been there, "Oh, dear…" she muttered to herself, her eyes widening slightly as she sensed that something very wrong had happened.

The Doctor also paused, casting his eyes around, but didn't seem to catch anything out of place, "Amelia!" he called loudly, removing the piece of cloth from his face, and grabbed the Time Lady's hand, "Amelia, we've worked out what it was!" they ran through the garden and up to the house, "We know what we were missing!" he pulled out the sonic as they reached the door, aiming it at the lock, but it seemed to glitch, "You've got to get out of there!"

"Doctor…" the Hatter began slowly, casting a look behind them towards the garden, "Doesn't this place…I don't know…seem off to you?"

He glanced at her, seeming confused, but before he could reply the door unlocked, "Amelia?" he called again as he threw the door open, and they ran inside, heading up the stairs, "Amelia, are you all right? Are you there?" they reached the door at the end of the hall that they had noticed the Perception Filter on, and began using the sonic on it, "Prisoner Zero's here," he checked the results, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "Prisoner Zero is here!" he called even more urgently, "Prisoner Zero is here! Do you understand me? Prisoner Zero is…"

Suddenly, the floor boards creaked behind them, and they whirled around, only to be slammed across their faces by something quite hard, and everything faded to darkness…

….

The Hatter groaned as she slowly came back around, her head arching painfully as she groggily blinked to find herself looking at a tall woman, wearing a police uniform and hat, with a mini skirt, leaning against the staircase railing. She frowned at her, almost positive that police woman didn't wear miniskirts, since it seemed as if it would rather hard to chase down criminals in one, but she supposed that it was just an after effect of being knocked out…by a cricket bat, apparently, as she vaguely recalled seeing it heading towards her face.

She cast her eyes around the landing, trying to work out exactly why everything seemed so much bigger, when she realised that she was sitting on the floor, one wrist handcuffed to a radiator. She sighed slightly when she noticed the Doctor was in a similar state, sitting beside her, slowly blinking awake himself as his eyes flew across to her, seeming relieved to see her awake, and relatively unharmed. She even had her hat still on, which, or though nice, was odd. Perhaps the woman had shoved it back on, which would explain why it didn't sit quite right.

"White male and woman, mid-twenties, breaking and entering," the woman spoke into her police radio strapped to her front, eyeing them carefully, "Send me back-up. I've got them restrained. Oi!" she stepped closer to them, her voice turning stern, "You two, sit still".

The Doctor winced, "Cricket bat," he cleared his throat, glancing at the Time Lady, "Are you getting cricket bat?"

"Oh, my head certainly is," the blonde groaned again, nodding, "What would you're Fifth body say, I wonder?"

"Yeah…" he looked back to the woman, "We're getting…cricket…bat".

"You were breaking and entering," the woman replied.

He suddenly tried to leap up, not seeming to realise that he was handcuffed, and crashed back down, "Well, that's much better," he remarked, glancing down at the handcuff around his wrist, his eyes traveling along to the other cuff to see it around the Time Lady's wrist, "Brand new me," he looked back up to the woman, "Whack on the head, just what I needed".

The Hatter cast him a look, raising her eyebrows, "All you had to do was ask, sweetheart".

"Do you two want to shut up now?" the woman frowned at them, "I've got back up on the way".

"Hang on, no, wait," he shook his head, "You're a policewoman".

"And you're breaking and entering. You see how this works?"

"No, but what about Amelia?" the Hatter asked her, trying to look around the rest of the hall, hoping with both her hearts that her suspicion wasn't right, "Please, just tell us where she is?"

Something in the woman's face changed and seemed to look at them even more intently, "Amelia Pond?"

"Yeah, Amelia," the Doctor nodded, growing more worried.

"She's the sweet, little Scottish girl," the Time Lady continued, tilting her head at the woman, finding her reaction quite…interesting, "She has red hair and green eyes…" she trailed off slightly, noticing that the woman before them had the same shade green eyes.

"Where is she?" he questioned, not noticing that the blonde seemed to be looking at the woman even more carefully, "We promised her five minutes, but the engines were phasing. I suppose we could have gone a bit far," he remarked, glancing at the blonde, a frown settling on his face, "Has something happened to her?"

The woman stared at them, looking wary, "Amelia Pond hasn't lived here in a long time".

"Exactly how long?" the Hatter swallowed apprehensively.

"Six months".

"No," the Doctor tried to laugh her off, glancing at the Hatter, as if he was expecting to see her smiling, only to see her looking at the woman with a sort of grim reassignment, "No, no, no!" he looked back to the woman, "We can't be six months late! We said five _minutes_. We promised, and the Hatter never breaks a promise," he nodded to the blonde, "It's sort of her thing, like hats."

The woman turned away from them, preparing to speak into her radio, "What happened to her?" the Time Lady called to her urgently, trying to move forwards, only to be pulled back by the handcuff, "Please, just tell us what happened to Amelia Pond?"

She simply kept her back to them, lifting the radio, "Sarge, it's me again," she said over it, "Hurry it up. These two know something about Amelia Pond".

"We need to speak to whoever lives in this house right now," the Doctor demanded as the woman turned back around to face them, hands on her hips.

" _I_ live here".

He blinked, "But you're the police!"

The Hatter nudged his side with her free arm, "Even the police have homes, Doctor," she reminded him, sounding slightly amused.

"Yes, and this is where I live," the woman agreed, narrowing her eyes at him, "Have you got a problem with that?"

"How many rooms?" the Doctor suddenly asked her, glancing behind her to the door at the end of the hall.

She stared at him as if he was mad, "I'm sorry, what?"

"He means on this floor," the Time Lady clarified, raising her eyebrows at her, "How many rooms are on this floor? Go on, count them".

"Why?"

They meet her eyes, very serious, "Because it will change your life," they told her simply.

"Five," she replied, and began pointing to them, "One, two, three, four, five…"

" _Six_ ," the Doctor corrected.

"Six?" she repeated, confused and slightly startled.

"Look".

"Look where?"

"To the very place you don't want to," the Hatter replied, watching her reaction closely as her face grew almost fearful, "The place you never want to look, in the corner of your eye".

"Look behind you," the Doctor added.

Slowly, she turned her head to look at the door, "That's…that's not possible," she shook her head, finally able to see the door, "How's that possible?"

"There's something called a Perception Filter around the door," the Time Lady explained to her, glancing at the Doctor, "The last time we were here, we sensed it," she sighed, looking annoyed at herself, "But we…I should have actually _seen_ it".

"But that's a whole room," she breathed, still staring at it, "That's a whole room I've _never_ noticed".

"The filter stops you noticing," the Doctor told her, talking quickly, "Something came a while ago too hid. It's still hiding, and you need to uncuff us now!"

She began walking towards the door, "I don't have the key," she informed them, not seeming to be listening, "I lost it".

"Oh, wonderful," the Hatter sighed heavily, rolling her eyes before she realised what the other woman was doing, "No!" she called to her hurriedly, "Stay away from that door!"

"Do not touch that door!" the Doctor continued, leaning around to watch as the woman, completely ignoring them, placed her hand on the door handle, "Listen to me, do _not_ open that…" he waved his hand around in frustration as she turned the handle, glancing at the Hatter, "Why does _no one_ ever listen to me?" the woman stepped into the room, "Do I have a face that _nobody_ listens to?" he sighed, rethinking what he had just said, "…again".

The Time Lady glanced at him, considering what he had said as she eyed his face, "I don't know about that, but it is…interesting".

He paused and looked at her, raising an eyebrow, "Interesting how?"

She went to answer, but shook her head as she remembered the woman that was in danger, "Let's discuss this later, sweetheart," she cleared her throat, frowning down at the handcuffs, "Sonic?"

"Ah!" he began searching through his pockets with his free hand, frowning when he didn't find it, "My screwdriver, where is it?" he called down the hall and through the open doorway, growing slightly frantic, "Silver thing, blue at the end. Where did it go?"

"There's nothing here," the woman called back.

"Think about it!" the Hatter told her, "There's something in there and it's stopping you from seeing an entire room, so why would you think _you_ could see it?" her voice turned deeply concerned, "Now, come back here, please! It's not safe!"

"Silver, blue at the end?"

"My screwdriver, yeah," the Doctor nodded, frowning down the hall.

"It's here".

He exchanged a quick look with the blonde, who looked even more alarmed, "Must've have rolled under the door".

"Oh, I don't think so," the Time Lady murmured.

"Yeah…" the woman's voice turned tense, "Must've…and then it must have jumped on the table".

The Time Lords stared at the door, "Get out of there," they told her, a note of fear entering their voices for the woman, "Get out of there!" they shouted when she didn't seem to listen, "Get out! Get out of there!" they both tried to pull away from the radiator, "What is it?" they paused in their attempts to stretch forwards, realising that something else must be going on in the room, "What are you doing?"

"There's nothing here, but…" she trailed off.

"Remember, the corner of your eye," the Hatter reminded her grimly.

"What is it?" she asked fearfully.

"Don't look at it!" she called to her quickly, "Don't even _try_ to see it, because if it knows that you've seen it, then it will kill you!"

"Don't look at it!" the Doctor agreed, raising his voice, "Do _not_ look".

There was nothing and then…she screamed.

"Get out!" he shouted, and the woman finally did as they told her, running out of the room, and slamming the door behind her as she raced back over to them, "Give me that," he held out his hand, noticing she had the sonic, and she handed it to him. He pointed it back at the door, and it glitched for a moment before finally working, locking the door before he focused on the handcuffs, "Come on," he muttered, frowning at the sonic, "What has the bad alien done to you?"

"Here, let me," the Hatter held out her hand, and he passed it to her, watching as she quickly examined it.

The woman stared, wide eyed at the closed door, "Will that door hold it?" she glanced at them.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course," the Doctor looked up at her, rolling his eyes sarcastically, "It's an interdimensional multiform from outer space," he scoffed as Hatter, managing to get the sonic to work, set to work undoing the cuffs again, "They're all terrified of wood".

The Time Lady glanced at him, looking amused, "Ooh, looks like someone's developed a bit of a sarcastic side," she remarked, giving him a cheeky wink, "I like it".

"Oh, yeah," he glanced at her, looking pleased with himself, "And have I ever mentioned how much I love…"

"What's that?" the woman cut across him, her voice growing even more fearful as a golden light appeared under the door from within the room, "What's it doing?"

"I don't know," he glanced over to the door as the Time Lady, grumbling, tried to clean the sonic, "Getter dressed?" he shrugged, "Run. Just go," he told her, "Your back up's coming. We'll be fine".

"There is no back up," she admitted.

He looked at her sharply, "I heard you on the radio," he frowned, "You call for back up," he looked to the Hatter, "You heard her, too?"

The Hatter nodded, casting the woman a long look, "Yes, but I don't think she's actually a policewoman," she raised her eyebrows at her, and she gave her a surprised look as the Doctor's mouth fell open, "Just look at that skirt, no real policewoman would have one that short".

"No, but…" he shook his head, looking back and forth between the two woman.

The woman sighed, realising her trick was up, "I'm a kiss-o-gram," and she pulled off her hat, letting her long, red hair fall down before tossing the hat in the air. Suddenly, the door at the end of the hall flew open and a man with a large dog stepped out, staring at them, "But it's just…" she trailed off, looking at them.

"Look closer," the Time Lady instructed her, "Look at their faces, really _look_ ".

A growling sound came from the pair and she looked at the dog, only to see that it wasn't doing anything, when the man began barking at them.

"What?" the woman gasped, taking a small step back, "I'm sorry, but…what?" she looked to the Time Lords.

"It's all one creature," the Doctor explained, smiling slightly, "One creature disguised as two. Clever multi-form".

The Hatter tilted her head at it, "Yes, but it got itself a bit mixed up," she commented, nodding between the man and the dog, "The voices aren't quite right, still…" she frowned, looking curious, "I do wounder were you got the pattern from? You would need a psych link, basically, a live feed. A hospital, perhaps?"

The man growled and stepped towards them, opening his mouth to reveal very long, sharp teeth as the woman gasped again, startled.

"Stay, boy!" the Doctor ordered, trying to shift closer to the Hatter as she struggled to try undoing the handcuffs, "Her and us," he nodded from the red head to the blonde, "We're safe. Want to know why? She sent for back up," he nodded to the red head again.

"I didn't send for back up!" the woman exclaimed.

The Time Lady groaned loudly, almost beating her head against the wall behind her.

"I know," the Doctor sighed, glancing at the red head, "That was a clever lie to save our lives," he looked back to the multi-form, "Okay, yeah, no back up," he nodded, "And that's why we're safe. Alone, we're not a threat to you, if we _had_ back up, you'd have to kill us".

"Attention, Prisoner Zero," a voice announced from outside, causing them to pause, "The human residence is surrounded," the Time Lady groaned even louder, closing her eyes tightly, "Attention, Prisoner Zero. The human residence is surrounded…"

"What's that?" the woman whispered, glancing at them.

"That would be back up," the Time Lady replied with a false, cheerful tone.

"Okay, one more time," the Doctor tried again, "We _do_ have back up and that's definitely why we're safe".

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence or the human residence will be incinerated".

"Oh, yeah, perfectly safe," the Hatter agreed, glancing at him, looking almost amused, "Never mind the incineration part".

He meet her eyes and grinned as Prisoner Zero walked into a different room.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated".

The Time Lady shook her head and focused her attention back on the sonic, hitting it against her palm, "Oh, come on, _work_ ," she grumbled as she pointed it back at the cuffs, the light on the end flickering. Finally, it started working again, and the cuffs around her wrist snapped open, and she quickly aimed it at the Doctor's, releasing him, "Okay, I suggest we run now!" she told the other two as she jumped to her feet, tossing the sonic to the Doctor as he followed.

"Run!" he grabbed the woman's hand, and then the Time Lady's, heading for the stairs. The Time Lords paused in the door way that the other alien had entered, checking to make sure it was still there, before racing down the stairs, after the red head.

They reached the front door, throwing it open, and darted outside, the Doctor flashing his sonic at the door to lock it.

"Seriously, a kiss-o-gram?" the blonde remarked, glancing at the red head with her eyebrows raised, sounding amused.

"Yes, a kiss-o-gram!" the woman nodded, "Work through it".

The Doctor finished with the door and whirled around to look at her, "Why'd you pretend to be a policewoman?"

"You broke into my house," she replied, shrugging slightly as they hurried through the garden, "It was this or the French maid! What's going on? Tell me," she demanded as they reached the TARDIS, "Tell me!"

"An alien convict is hiding in your spare room disguised as man and a dog, and some other aliens are about to incinerate your house".

The Hatter glanced over her shoulder at her, "Any questions?"

"Yes!"

"Me too," the Doctor began trying to unlock the TARDIS, "No!" he exclaimed when the doors refused to budge, "No, no, no! Don't do that, not now!"

"She's still rebuilding," the Time Lady sighed heavily, patting the doors gently as she eyed the smoke still billowing out of the smashed windows, "She's going to need more time before she can let us in".

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated".

The woman looked back to her house as she heard the alien barking at them from the upstairs bedroom, "Come on!" she grabbed the Doctor and the Hatter's arms, trying to pull them away.

"No, stop!" the Hatter pulled her arm back, catching sight of a garden shed just off to the side of the garden, frowning at it, "The last time we were here, I remember we destroyed that shed".

The Doctor followed her gaze, breaking free of the red heads grip, and running over to the shed, "Smashed it to pieces," he agreed, eyeing it.

"So there's a new one!" the woman shrugged, trying to usher them away from it, "Let's go!"

"Yeah, but the new one's got old," he commented, waving his hands around at it as the Time Lady leaned closer towards the wooden shed, giving it a sniff. Her eyes widened slightly as she turned around to face the red head, "It's ten years old at least!"

"Twelve, actually," the Hatter informed him, still looking at the woman, and he spun around to face her, too, "We're not _six months_ late, we're _twelve years_ late," she breathed.

Prisoner Zero barked again, "He's coming," the woman glanced back over to her house, trying to distract them.

"You said six months," the Doctor stepped closer to her, his tone accusing, "Why did you say six months?"

"We've got to go…"

"No, because this is very, very important," the Time Lady shook her head, tilting her head at her, dearly hoping that what she had suspected for a while, what everything had been pointing to, wasn't right, "Please, just tell us why you said six months?"

"Why did you say five minutes?" she suddenly shouted, looking hurt and angry as her British accent disappeared, replaced with a Scottish one.

The blonde closed her eyes, "Oh, Amelia…" she murmured, opening them again to look at her sadly.

The Doctor gaped at her, "What?" he whispered, staring at the woman before him in a completely new light.

Amelia, looking slightly shocked with herself, swallowed, "Come on".

"What?"

"Come on!" she grabbed their arms again, pulling them back through her garden.

"What?"

The Hatter gave herself a sharp shake, "Explanations later, sweetheart," she told him quickly, "Running now!"

They followed Amelia as she led them back up through the garden, running past the front door as it burst open, and Prisoner Zero appeared.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated…"

….

They raced up the driveway of Amelia's house, and onto a village road, when the Time Lords stopped, looking back to her, "You're Amelia," the Doctor blinked at her, still finding it hard to believe.

Amelia walked past them, casting them annoyed looks, "And you're late".

"Amelia Pond," he chased after her, linking his arm through the Hatter's, "You're the little girl".

"I'm Amelia and you're late".

"What happened?" the Hatter asked, eyeing her.

"Twelve years," she replied angrily.

"You hit us with a cricket bat!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Twelve years!"

"A _cricket_ _bat_!"

She scoffed slightly, "Twelve years, and _four_ psychiatrists".

"Really?" the Time Lady looked at her, startled, "Four of them?" she shook her head, trying to lighten the mood, "What did you do, bite them or something?"

Amelia hesitated, glancing back at her, looking slightly embarrassed, "…yeah…"

The blonde's eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, that…that was only meant to be a joke," she coughed.

The Doctor glanced at her, looking amused, "Why?" he questioned, looking back to Amelia.

Amelia sighed, looking away, "They said you weren't real".

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated," the voice announced again over the speakers on an ice cream van, parked just ahead of them in what appeared to be the village green.

"No, no, no, come on," Amelia stared at the van, her eyes widening, "What? We're being staked out by an ice cream van".

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated…"

The Time Lords exchanged a look and ran over to the van, "What's that?" they asked the vendor, who was looking up at the speakers, confused, "Why are you playing that?"

The man shook his head at them, "It's supposed to be Claire De Lune".

The Doctor grabbed a radio that was sitting in the van, holding it up, "Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated…" the voice came over it, too, repeating the same thing.

"Doctor, look," the Hatter grabbed his hand, nodding over to where a woman was standing, frowning down at an iPod, and across to where another woman was looking confused at her mobile phone, "They're using everything and anything with speakers," she realised, hearing the same words being repeated.

"Doctor, Hatter, what's happening?" Amelia turned towards them, having followed there gazes.

The Time Lords looked at each other, glancing back to her, before they raced across the road, and over to a house with a white, picket fence around it, Amelia following. They jumped over the fence, the Doctor pausing to help the Time Lady, and ran inside the house to find an elderly woman standing before her TV, clicking her remote at it, trying to get rid of the large, blue eyeball that was flashing across the screen.

"Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated…" the voice called over the screen.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted the woman as she looked over to them, surprised, "Sorry to burst in," the Hatter moved past them, giving the woman a small smile as she moved closer to the TV, examining behind it, "We're doing a special on television faults in this are…" Amelia ran inside the room, and he glanced at her, "…also, crimes. Let's have a look," he moved over to the Time Lady.

"I was just about to phone," the woman informed the Time Lords, "It's on every channel. Oh, hello, Amy dear," she smiled as she glanced at Amelia, before she frowned slightly at her outfit, "Are you a policewoman now?"

"We'll sometimes," Amelia nodded, awkwardly.

"I thought you were a nurse".

The Doctor and the Hatter paused, exchanging a look as they looked over to the red head, raising their eyebrows.

"I can be a nurse…" she agreed slowly.

The woman cast her a long look, "Or, actually, a nun?"

She tried to laugh her off as the Time Lady coughed, struggling to hold back a laugh, "I dabble".

The woman nodded, seeming to decide to let it go, "Amy, who is your friends?" she nodded to the Time Lords.

"Who's Amy?" the Doctor asked, looking over to her, "You were Amelia".

"Yeah?" Amy shrugged, shifting slightly, "Now I'm Amy".

"But Amelia Pond was a lovely name," the Hatter frowned, looking sad as the Doctor nodded in agreement.

She meet there eyes, "Bit fairy tale," she remarked.

The older woman eyed the Time Lords, "I know you both, don't I?" she smiled pleasantly, "I've seen you somewhere before".

"Not _me_ ," the Doctor shook his head, looking at her, "Brand new face. First time on," he opened his mouth wide to show her his face, the Hatter stared at him slightly, wondering just how much more insane he could possibly get as he snapped his mouth shut again, "And what sort of job's a kiss-o-gram?" he looked over to Amy.

"I go to parties and I…kiss people," she replied, clearing her throat, "…with outfits. It's a laugh".

"You were a little girl five minutes ago!" the Time Lords looked at her sharply.

"You're worse than my Aunt!"

"I'm the Doctor and she's the Hatter, we're worse than everybody's Aunt," the Doctor told her sternly, the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, amused. He paused, glancing at the older woman, "And that is not how I'm introducing us," he lowered his voice slightly.

"Well, it would certainly be a memorable introduction," the Hatter commented, laughing.

He sent her a smile and picked up a radio, flashing his sonic at it, switching it to different channels as the same message came over, only in different languages, "Okay, so it's everywhere, in every language," he sat the radio back down, nodding slowly, "They're broadcasting to the whole world".

"Oh, this really isn't good," the Time Lady sighed heavily, running across the room, and over to a window. She opened it and stuck her head out, looking up at the sky.

"What's up there?" Amy asked as they followed her, "What are you looking for?"

She didn't answer as she pulled herself back inside the room, one hand going up to fiddle with her battered, slightly bloody bowtie. Never a good sign.

"Okay," the Doctor sighed, moving away from the window, "Planet this size, two poles, your basic molten core…"

"They're going to need…oh, about a forty percent fission blast," the Time Lady estimated thoughtfully, nodding slowly, just as a young man entered the room with a laptop bag over his shoulder.

The Doctor walked over to him, peering closely at the man's face, "But they'll have to power up first, won't they?" he continued, not seeming to notice the other man's discomfort, "So assuming a medium size starship, that's twenty minutes. What do you think, twenty minutes?" he asked the man, not waiting for him to reply, "Yeah, twenty minutes," he looked back over to the others, "We've got twenty minutes".

Amy frowned at them, looking back and forth between the two Time Lords, "Twenty minutes to what?"

"Are you the Doctor and the Hatter?" the man asked suddenly, glancing over to the Time Lady, and seeming to pause slightly as his eyes lingered on her.

The Doctor cleared his throat, giving him a sharp look, while the Time Lady didn't even seem to notice.

"They are, aren't they?" the older woman smiled brightly, "They're the Doctor and the Hatter!" Amy cringed, "The Raggedy Doctor, and the Shabby Hatter!" the Time Lady paused, mothing the words, 'Shabby Hatter, "All those cartoons you did when you were little," the woman looked at Amy, who was still cringing, "The Raggedy Doctor and the Shabby Hatter. It's them!"

Amy cleared her throat, highly embarrassed, "Shut up," she whispered.

"I don't look that bad, do I?" the Hatter questioned, looking down at herself, sighing slightly as she realised that yes, she really did, with her waistcoat hanging open, the buttons having fallen off along the way, the blood still splattered down her front, and all the rips. Still, at least her hat, which was actually a spare, having lost the originally, looked fine.

"…cartoons?" the Doctor repeated slowly, eyeing Amy, before he shook himself and moved to sit on the sofa, the Time Lady quickly joining him.

"Gran, it's them, isn't it?" the man smiled broadly as he moved closer to the older woman, apparently his Grandmother, his eyes coming to rest on the blonde, much to the Doctor's annoyance. Once again, the Time Lady didn't seem to notice, "It's really them!"

"Jeff, shut up," Amy hissed, looking over to the Time Lords, "Twenty minutes to what?"

"…the human residence will be incinerated," the voice called over the TV.

The Hatter sighed, glancing over to the humans, "The human residence…" she gestured to the TV screen, "It's not just referring to your house, but the entire planet".

"Somewhere up there," the Doctor nodded, looking up at the ceiling, "There's a spaceship, and it's going to incinerate the planet".

"…will be incinerated. Repeat, Prisoner Zero will vacate the human residence, or the human residence will be incinerated…"

The Time Lords exchanged a look, saying in unison, "Twenty minutes to the end of the world".

 _ **Next chapter, the Doctor gets a new sonic, the Hatter puts an old hobby to good use, and tea on the moon? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	2. Chapter 2 The Eleventh Hour, Part 2

_**The Eleventh Hour, Part 2**_

The Time Lords, along with Amy, left the house and began making their way back past the village green, the Time Lords arms linked together as they cast their eyes around. Just ahead of them, a young boy was heading towards them, pretending that a toy helicopter was flying.

"What is this place?" the Doctor asked after a moment with a small frown, "Where are we?"

"Leadworth," Amy replied, hurrying to keep up with them.

"And this is it?" the Hatter glanced at her, looking unimpressed.

"Yeah".

"Is there an airport?" the Doctor questioned in the same tone as the Time Lady.

"No," she shook her head.

"A nuclear power station?"

"No".

"Even a _little_ one?"

"No".

"What about the nearest city?" the Hatter sighed.

"Gloucester," she told them, "Half an hour by car".

"And we don't have half an hour," the Time Lady shook her head, pausing as she glanced back to her, "Do we _even_ have a car?"

Amy grimaced slightly, "…no".

"What do you people _do_ here? Please tell me that this place at least has a sweets shop?"

"Ah…sorry, no".

"Well, that's good," the Doctor remarked, rolling his eyes as the Hatter's eyes widened, looking appalled by the idea that there wasn't a sweets shop, "Fantastic, that is," he continued sarcastically, "Twenty minutes to save the world and we've got a post office," he scoffed slightly as he gestured over towards the shop in question as they passed it.

"Oh, and it's closed," the Hatter added, shaking her head, failing to hide the somewhat amused tone in her voice, "We're stuck in a village that's apparently more boring than watching paint dry, and we don't even have a sweets shop".

He cast her an amused look, "You're really upset about that sweets shop, aren't you?"

"There's just no justice in the Universe, sweetheart," she said, sounding very serious.

He smiled fondly, and went to say something, but something ahead of them caught his eyes, "What is that?" he frowned, pointing over to were a small pool of water was sitting on the edge of the village green.

Amy rolled her eyes at him, looking almost frustrated, "It's a duke pond".

He ran over to it, the girls right on his heels as he and the Time Lady paused before it, looking down at the still water. Slowly, he turned back to face Amy, "Why aren't there any ducks?" he asked her.

"Actually, that's a very good question," the Hatter nodded slowly, catching on to something definitely not being right. In fact, there seemed to be quite a number of things that didn't add up.

"I don't know," Amy shrugged, eyeing them, confused, "There's never any ducks".

"Then how do you know it's a duck pond?" both Time Lords raised their eyebrows at her.

"It just _is_!" she exclaimed, growing even more annoyed with them, "Is it important, the duck pond?"

"I don't know…" the Doctor suddenly clutched at his chest, jolting backwards as the Hatter sighed, realising what was about to happen, and grabbed his arm tighter, trying to offer him some support so that he at least wouldn't end up in the water. He groaned, "Why would I know?" he fell backwards onto the grass, right on the edge of the water, and nodded to the blonde, "Ask the Hatter, she's good at this stuff".

The Time Lady rolled her eyes slightly as she knelt beside him, "Never mind that," she sighed, shaking her head as she reached up and gently brushed his hair off his forehead, "You really ought to have rested, sweetheart," she commented softly, "You never do handle regeneration very well".

He winced, still clutching at his chest, "Could have been worse," he grumbled, "I could have gone into a coma, or lost my memory," another pain shot through him, and he glanced up at Amy, who was staring at him, looking alarm, "I'm not ready, I'm not done yet".

A shadow fell over them and they all looked up to see that the clouds had moved over them.

"What's happening?" Amy frowned, staring up at the sky, "Why's it going dark?" the sun repapered, but something was blocking it, causing it to shin dimly, when whatever it was passed over, causing the sun to look a funny red and orange colour, "So what's wrong with the sun?"

"Nothing, really," the Hatter told her, only looking up briefly, her main focus on the Doctor, "Well, aside from the force field that's just been placed around the Earth, sealing off the upper atmosphere".

"Now they're getting ready to boil the planet," the Doctor added, and Amy shot him a startled look as the Hatter helped him back to his feet, "Oh, and here they come," he looked over to the village green were people had rushed outside, holding their phones up at the sky, "The human race," he shook his head, almost sounding amused, "The end comes, as it was always going to, down a video phone," he finished, his tone turning exasperated.

"This isn't real, is it?" Amy glanced at them, her eyes wide as they looked back to her, "This is some kind of big wind up".

The Time Lady titled her head, "And why would we being winding you up?" she questioned, "Yes, granted, it's one of my favourite thing's to tease people," she coughed and nudged the Doctor's side, who flashed her a smile, "But when it comes to protecting the Earth, that's a different story".

She eyed them, "You told me you had a time machine".

"And you believed us," the Doctor reminded her.

"Then I grew up".

The blonde sighed, shaking her head, "Oh, that's something you never want to do".

"No!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, and they looked back at him, the Time Lady raising her eyebrows, "Hang on, shut up!" he whirled around to the Time Lady, pointing at her, "Wait…we missed it," he slapped his forehead, looking back to her as she gave him a confused look, "You were focused on me," he remarked, sounding slightly pleased, "I saw it and I missed it," he slapped himself again, frowning.

The Hatter grabbed his hands, holding them tightly, stopping him from slapping himself again, "Oh, honestly," she commented, sounding mildly annoyed as he looked back to her, "Would you just stop slapping yourself?" she cast him a stern look, "Use your words, Doctor".

"Right, words," he nodded slowly, looking back over towards the village green, "What did I see?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing, "I saw…what did I see? I saw…I saw…I saw…"

The Time Lady followed his gaze to the green, quickly examining each person in turn, seeing that each one of them was looking up at the sky…oh, no. Not quite, because there was one person, a young man with brown hair, and wearing blue hospital scrubs who was looking to the other end of the green, holding up his phone, taking photos of were Prisoner Zero was standing, still disguised as the man and dog. The man hardly seem to have even noticed the sun at all.

"Oh…" the Hatter breathed, her eyes widening in realisation as Amy and the Doctor's heads snapped back to her. She smiled slowly, meeting the Doctor's eyes, "You clever man," she reached up and kissed him on his cheek, taking him by surprise, "You _did_ see it, you just didn't _realise_ it".

He blinked, still looking surprised, but quite pleased as he looked back to the green, catching on to exactly what he had noticed in the first place as the man in scrubs looked down at his phone. He gave himself a shake and looked over towards the village clock, "Twenty minutes," he remarked.

"We can do it," the Time Lady nudged his side, sounding confident, "Easily".

The Doctor winked at her and whirled around to face Amy, "Twenty minutes, the planet burns," he continued, raising his eyebrows at the red head, "Run to your loved ones and say goodbye, or stay and help us".

Amy eyed them, "No," she replied almost at once.

They frowned, confused as they exchanged a quick look, "I'm sorry?"

"No!" she shouted, grabbing the Doctor's tie and one of the Hatter's bracer's that had snapped at one point during everything, and had been hanging down beside her side, beginning to drag the Time Lords over towards a parked car.

"Hey, no, don't!" the Hatter exclaimed, trying to pull away, but it was useless. The bracers were still attached to her trousers.

"Amy, no, no!" the Doctor called urgently, just as trapped as the blonde, "What are you doing?"

Amy pushed their backs against the car, looking determined, just as the driver opened the door, stepping out. She grabbed the door and slammed it on the tie and snapped bracer, trapping them even more as the Time Lords were forced to stand close together, the Doctor practically breathing down the Hatter's neck, much to her discomfort, since it was quite ticklish. Amy snatched the keys off the driver, and clicked it, locking the car.

"Well, that was rude!" the Time Lady huffed loudly, casting Amy a look, "Have you completely lost your mind?" she shook her head and shifted slightly, throwing a look back behind her to the Doctor, "And would you please stop breathing on my neck? It's tickling".

"You've changed shampoos," the Doctor remarked, sounding thoughtful, "What happened to the strawberry one? I liked the strawberry one," he whined slightly.

She rolled her eyes, "Doctor, this really isn't the best time to be discussing what shampoo scent I use, but for your information, I haven't changed," she informed him, "Need I remind you that I've gone through several dunking's in the swimming pool, not to mention everything else, so my hair is hardly going to be smelling its strongest right now".

Amy stared at them, looking unsure as to if they were just joking or not, before she shook her head, growing determined again, "Who are you?" she demanded, looking in-between them.

"You know who we are," the Doctor replied, turning serious again as he focused his attention on the red head.

"No, really," she narrowed her eyes, "Who are you?"

"Just look at the sky, Amy," the Hatter tried, meeting her eyes, "Please, we only have twenty minutes, otherwise everything, including us, gets destroyed".

"Well, better talk quickly, then!"

"Amy…I'm going to need my car back…" the driver, who was watching the entire conversation, cut in gently.

Amy closed her eyes briefly, "Yes, in a bit," she opened them again, her tone leaving no room for an argument, "Now go and have coffee".

The man nodded slowly, "Right…yes," he glanced wearily between the three before walking away.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out the apple that little Amelia had given him, tossing it to Amy, "Catch".

She caught it and turned it around in her hand, staring down at the smiley face carved into it, exactly the same as the day she had given it to him.

"I'm the Hatter," the Time Lady told her gently, watching her reaction closely, "And he's the Doctor. We travel throughout time and space".

Amy looked back up to them, still struggling to allow herself to believe them, despite knowing that they were telling the truth.

"Everything we told you twelve years ago is true," the Doctor continued, giving her a small, soft smile, "We're real. What's happening in the sky is real, and if you don't let us go right now, everything you've ever known is over".

She stared at them for a long moment, shaking her head, "I don't believe you…"

"Please, just give us twenty minutes," the Hatter leaned closer to her, giving her a comforting smile, "That's all we're asking for, is that you believe us for twenty minutes. That's all".

The Doctor lightly grabbed Amy's wrist, "Look at it," he nodded down to the apple in her hand, and Amy's eyes flickered down towards it, "Fresh as the day you gave it to me, and you know it's the same one," slowly, Amy's eyes flew back up to meet there's, searching their faces, before looking back to the apple. For a long moment she stared at it, thinking deeply over everything they had said as she looked back up at them, "Amy…" he tried again, "Believe us for twenty minutes".

For a long moment she didn't move, simply eyeing them closely, before she held up the car keys, clicking the button, and unlocked the car, "What do we do?" she asked them, the Hatter breaking into a grin.

"Stop that nurse," the Time Lords answered at once, opening the car door, and releasing themselves as Amy smiled.

They raced across the village green, jumping over a low chain-link fence, and over to the man in the scrubs, snatching his phone off him as he looked down at it, stepping past him as the Time Lords held the phone up between them, eyeing the screen.

The Doctor turned around to face the man, who was looking confused, "The sun's going out, and you're photographing a man and dog," he stepped closer to the man as the Hatter, giving the man an apologetic look, handed the phone back to him, "Why?"

Amy joined them, slightly out of breath, and the man immediately focused on her, "Amy!" he exclaimed.

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, the Hatter unable to stop herself from wondering if that was the same reaction she had been getting every time she ran into the Doctor over the centuries.

"Hi!" Amy smiled brightly to the man, grabbing his hand as she glanced at the Time Lords, "Oh, this is Rory," she introduced, "He's a…friends".

Rory laughed slightly awkwardly, glancing at them, too, " _Boy_ friend".

" _Kind_ of boyfriend," she muttered, shifting.

"Amy!" he sent her a look.

"Lovely," the Hatter smiled, grabbing Rory's hand, and shaking it quickly, much to his surprise, before dropping it, "Now, the man and dog," her tone turned stern as she fixed him with a intent look, "Why?"

Rory's eyes ran over them and his eyes widened, "Oh, my God, it's them!" he gaped.

" _Just_ answer her question, please," Amy cut across him quickly.

"It's them, though! The Doctor and the Hatter. The Raggedy Doctor and the Shabby Hatter!"

The Time Lords exchanged a look, still not entirely sure how they felt about their new nicknames.

"Yeah, they came back," Amy nodded, looking back to the Time Lords.

"But they were a story!" Rory gasped, staring at them, still very shocked, "They were a game…"

The Doctor suddenly grabbed Rory by the front of his shirt, "Man and dog!" he pulled him towards him so they were face to face, "Why? Tell me now!" he gave him a shake with each word.

"Easy, Doctor," the Time Lady gently took his hands and pulled him off Rory, who was looking startled, and took the Doctor's hand, "We don't want to break the possibly nice man, now, do we?" she smiled and looked back to Rory, her tone light, "Though, I would highly suggest that you start talking now, please".

"Sorry," Rory nodded, swallowing slightly nervously as he looked in-between them, coming to rest on the blonde, seeming to feel that she was the least threatening of the two, "Because he can't be. Because he's…"

"In a hospital, in a coma," the Time Lords and Rory finished in unison.

He blinked, looking shocked, nodding again, "…yeah".

The Time Lords exchanged grins, "Knew it," the Doctor remarked, looking very pleased, "Multiform, you see?" he looked back to the humans, "Disguise itself as anything, but it needs a life feed".

"In other words, it needs a psychic link to a minds that's…well, dormant," the Hatter added brightly.

The dog barked behind them…well, the man barked, rather than the dog, catching there attention again. The man growled angrily and the Time Lords moved closer to the alien, still holding hands.

"Prisoner Zero," the Doctor greeted it calmly.

"What?" Rory gasped from behind them, sounding surprised, "There's a Prisoner Zero too?"

"Yes," Amy answered quickly.

A humming sound sounded from above them and the Time Lords looked around to see a large, crystal like spaceship with a blue eye attached to the bottom of it, swivelling around as the ship hovered over the top of the village, scanning the area. Everyone looked up at it, some people stood, pulling out there phones, and holding it up to the sky.

"Ooh, would you look at that?" the Hatter smiled cheekily as she pointed up to the ship, glancing at Prisoner Zero, "That ship's scanning this entire area for non-terrestrial technology".

The Doctor broke into a smile beside her, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver, keeping his arm by his side, "And nothing says non-terrestrial like a sonic screwdriver," he looked back to Prisoner Zero, holding the sonic up.

The alien frowned at them, seeming confused as to what a sonic screwdriver even was. The Doctor activated the sonic, holding it high above his head, and every streetlight exploded, sparks flying, car alarms went off, an old woman on an electric scooter cried out as her scooter took off on its own as the Hatter mentally winced, feeling sorry for the woman. Even a firetruck drove past, sirens blearing as a fire man ran after it, shouting at it to stop.

"I think some one's going to notice, don't you?" the Doctor grinned, raising his eyebrows at Prisoner Zero.

The Hatter cast the sonic in his hand a wary look, "Ah, Doctor," she raised her voice slightly to be heard over all the sirens, "You might want to…" he increased the power on the sonic, aiming it at a telephone box a short distance away, causing it to explode. She sighed, knowing it was to late, "… _lower_ the power".

And just as she had expected, the sonic suddenly sparked violent, covering both her and the Doctor in a shower of gold sparks, and he quickly dropped it, grimacing. He crouched beside it, trying to wave smoke away from the charred, slightly twisted remains of the device, "No!" he shouted, looking outraged as he grabbed it, holding it up, "No, no, don't do that!"

"I tried to warn you, sweetheart," the Time Lady knelt beside him, wrapping and arm around him as he threw the device back on the ground angrily, "Don't worry, I'll build you a brand new one," she tried soothing him, pulling him back up, "Brand new casing, for a brand new face, how's that?"

He seemed to consider her words, raising his eyebrows at her, "Will you make it bigger?" he asked, "I all ways thought it could be a bit bigger".

She eyed him for a moment, "What is it with men, even Time Lords, when it comes to size?" she rolled her eyes, looking amused, "Goodness me, you want it bigger, fine, but it's going to have a green light," she pointed a stern finger at him, "This me likes green".

"Whatever you want, dear," he smiled broadly, and kissed her cheek happily.

"Ah, look!" Rory called to them, catching attention as he pointed back up to the spaceship, which seemed to be preparing to take off, "It's going!"

The Doctor sighed heavily, "No, come back!" he shouted up at the sky, waving his arms around, "He's here!" the ship turned completely, heading away, "Come back! He's here! Prisoner Zero is here!" he waved over to were the alien was standing as the ship flew away, "Come back, he's here! Prisoner Zero is…" he lowered his arms to his side, looking frustrated as the ship disappeared out of sight.

"Doctor!" Amy ran forward and grabbed his arm, and then the Time Lady's, looking over to where Prisoner Zero had been standing, the spot now empty, "The drain…" she frowned, trying to explain, "It just sort of melted and went down the drain".

The Hatter glanced over to the drain, not in the slightest bit surprised, "Well, he was hardly going to hang around".

She looked at them, "What do we do now?"

"It's in hiding form," the Doctor replied, "We need to…drive it into the open," he glanced at the Hatter, seeming almost helpless, "No TARDIS, no screwdriver, seventeen minutes. Come on, think. Think!"

"We can do it," the Hatter pattered his arm, giving him a bright smile, though, she did have to admit that nothing seemed to be working in their favour today. Still, when did thing's ever work in their favour, anyway? "Come on," she grabbed his arm, and began walking over towards the drain, Rory and Amy right behind them.

"So that thing… _that_ hid in my house for twelve years?" Amy questioned, looking down the drain, glancing at the Time Lords.

"Well, multiforms can live for millennia," the Time Lady informed her, shrugging as the Doctor seemed to eye Rory for a moment, "Twelve years…that's nothing, hardly even a lunch break to it".

She crossed her eyes across her chest, "So how come you two show up again on the same day that lot do?" she eyed them suspiciously, "The _same_ minute!"

"They're looking for him, but they followed us," the Doctor told her, "They saw us through the crack, got a fix, they're only late because we are".

Rory frowned, looking between the Time Lords, "What's he on about?" he looked around to Amy.

"Nurse boy, give me your phone," the Doctor turned to him, holding out his hand.

"How can they be real? They were never _real_!"

"Phone, now, give me!"

"Just do as he says," the Hatter advised the man, looking slightly amused, "Believe me, it will save you a lot of trouble".

Rory sighed, handing the phone over, "They were just a game," he continued to Amy as the Time Lords focused on the screen of the phone, "We were kids. You made me dress up as _him_ and you as her".

The Time Lady paused, glancing over to Amy with a raised eyebrow as she blushed, "Well…that's a first," she remarked, shaking her head.

The Doctor began flickering through pictures on the phone, each showing a different person, "These photos, they're all coma patients?"

"Yeah," Rory nodded.

"Not quite," the blonde smiled slightly, leaning closer to the Doctor to look at the screen, "That's the multiform, all those people are just copies," she looked over to Rory, "So, eight people in comas, eight different disguises for Prisoner Zero. Handy, really".

"He had a dog, though," Amy pointed out, looking confused, "There's a dog in a coma?"

"Well, the coma patient dreams he's walking a dog, Prisoner Zero gets a dog," the Doctor commented, "Laptop!" he looked up quickly, glancing at the red head, "Your friend…what was his name?" he frowned, shaking his finger at Rory, "Not him, the good looking one".

"Thanks," Rory rolled his eyes.

"Don't be rude, Doctor," the Hatter scolded lightly, shaking her head, "New face, same rudeness".

"Jeff," Amy replied.

"Oh, _thanks_ ," he turned away, and the blonde reached over, patting his shoulder.

"He had a laptop in his bag," the Doctor continued to Amy, "A laptop. _Big_ bag, big laptop," he grinned, pulling the two humans closer to him as he looked between them, "We need Jeff's laptop. You two, get to the hospital, get everyone out, clear the whole floor. Phone us when you're done".

And with that, he grabbed the Hatter's hand, and they ran off towards Jeff's house, leaving Amy and Rory to their own task.

….

The Time Lords ran up the garden path of the house, threw the door open, and raced upstairs. They quickly located Jeff's room, and opened the door to find the man in question sitting on his bed with his laptop on his lap. He looked up, startled as they entered.

"Hello!" the Doctor greeted him brightly, "Laptop," his tone quickly turned demanding, "Give me".

The Hatter darted forward, grabbing hold of the computer as Jeff quickly tried to pull it closer to his chest, "No, no, no, no, wait…" he tried, his eyes wide.

"Oh, stop fussing," the Time Lady sighed, giving him a stern look, "Just hand it over".

"Hang on!"

She huffed slightly before giving him a small smile, batting her eyelashes at him. Jeff blinked at her, looking completely surprised by her sudden change that he loosened his grip on the machine, and she cried out in victory as she snatched it away from him at once.

"Did you just…" the Doctor opened and closed his mouth, staring at the Hatter, "You were…that was…"

"Yes, yes," she waved a hand at him, not looking bothered in the slightest as she moved to sit on the end of the bed, "I used my womanly charm," she gave him a look, "Don't start, it was either that or slap him, since the man had a death grip on the thing. Think of it as part of my payback for making me make that damn promise".

He sniffed slightly, eyeing her, "Have you done that before?"

"Well, there was one occasion on Gallifrey were the Lord President was planning to cut my funding, so I made a little visit to his office. I didn't think it would work, but apparently even Time Lords can have a weakness to a nice smile. Still, it did have its disadvantages, I ended up being invited to a lot more parties".

"What?" he exclaimed.

"Oh, stop it," she sighed again, casting him a long look, "It's not like a touched him, let alone kissed him. It was just a smile, and we are running out of valuable time," he grumbled under his breath, but moved to sit beside her as Jeff looked over their shoulders as she looked at the screen, her eyes widening, and a blush spread across her face as she quickly closed the page, "Goodness, I don't think I was old enough to see that," she breathed, rubbing her eyes as if that would get rid of just what she had witnessed.

"Blimey!" the Doctor's own eyes widened, catching sight of the screen, glancing over his shoulder to Jeff, who was looking extremely embarrassed, "Get a girlfriend, Jeff".

"And fast," the Hatter nodded quickly, her eyes still wide, "I'm never going to be able to un-see that, am I?"

The bedroom door opened and Jeff's grandmother stepped in.

"Gran!" Jeff called, his head snapping up to look at her.

"What are you doing?" the older woman asked, looking at the Time Lords.

"The sun's gone wibbly," the Doctor replied as the Hatter set to work on the computer, her hands flying across the keyboard, "So right now, somewhere out there, there's going to be a big old video conference call," he smiled slightly, "All the experts in the world panicking at once, and do you know what they need?" he raised his eyebrows, meeting the woman's eyes, "Us".

"Ah, and here we go," the Time Lady grinned a moment later as she looked back to the screen, "All of those big names in the space world," she pointed at the screen, "NASA, Jodrell Bank, Tokyo Space Centre, Patrick Moore…"

"I like Patrick Moore," the woman cut in, smiling broadly.

"I'll get you his number," the Doctor nodded to her before he pointed a warning finger, "But watch him, he's a devil".

"You can't just hack in on a call like that!" Jeff exclaimed behind them, his eyes widening.

"Oh, I assure you I can," the Hatter shrugged, casting him a look, "And like I said, stop fussing. You won't get a girlfriend fussing. Now, psychic paper, sweetheart," she held out her hand to the Doctor, and he reached inside his pocket, handing it to her. She flashed the paper at the webcam as she finished hacking in, bringing up six little boxes on the screen, each with someone in it.

"Who are you?" Patrick Moore demanded, frowning up at them through the screen.

"This is a secure call," another man called over, "What are you doing?"

"Hello," the Doctor leaned closer to the screen, giving a little wave, "Yeah, I know, you should switch us off, but before you do, watch this".

The Hatter started typing again, grinning as she did so.

"It's here too, I'm getting it!" Patrick announced to his colleagues.

"Okay, Fermat's Theorem, the proof," the Hatter remarked as she typed, glancing up at the screen, giving them a wink, "And I mean the real one, boys and girls, never before seen".

"Poor old Fermat," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head slightly, "Got killed in a dual before he could write it down," he glanced at the Time Lady, and back to the screen, "Our fault. We…ah, slept it," he cleared his throat.

The blonde blushed again, "Yes, well…newlyweds," she muttered, shifting embarrassedly beside him, and avoided everyone's eyes as she focused a little too hard on typing, "Oh, and here's another oldie but a goodie," she smiled slightly, "Why electrons have mass…ooh, but this is one of our favourites," she nodded towards the Doctor, "Faster than light travel with _two_ diagrams, _and_ a joke," she laughed, pointing at the screen as she looked up at the others, as if expecting to see them laughing, too, "Isn't that brilliant?"

"Er…" Jeff blinked blankly at her.

She sighed, losing the smile, "Never mind," she shook her head, turning serious as she looked back to the screen, "Right, you lot, look at your screens," she told them, "Whoever we are, we're geniuses, and look at the sun, because you're going to need all the help you can get".

The Doctor pointed a finger at the screen, "Fellas, pay attention," his tone sounding almost like a school teacher talking to a group of students.

The Hatter grinned and handed the laptop to the Doctor, trading it for Rory's mobile as she quickly set to work typing something into the device.

"Sir, ma'am, what are you doing?" a man called over, sounding mildly concerned as he eyed them.

"She's writing a computer vires," the Doctor informed them brightly, glancing at the blonde, "She went through a boredom phase once…" he shivered, remembering, "Let's just say she's good at computer vires".

The Time Lady gave him a wink, "I always said they might come in handy one day," she reminded him, shrugging slightly as she glanced back over to the computer screen, "It's quite clever, actually, very fast, and…a little bit alive, but I wouldn't go spreading that around," she lifted a finger and tapped the side of her nose with a stern look.

"And why is she writing it on a phone?" he continued, raising his eyebrows, "Never mind, you'll find out," he smiled slightly, glancing at Jeff.

"All right," the Hatter said after a moment, looking back over to the screen, "I'm sending it all to your computers right now, so get everyone who works for you to send it everywhere".

"Email," he added, nodding along with her as he began typing on the computer, "Text, Facebook, Twitter, radar dish, whatever you've got," he glanced back at the screen, "Any questions?"

"Who are you?" Patrick asked, eyeing the Hatter beside him.

The Time Lady laughed, patting the Doctor's arm as he opened his mouth, looking annoyed, "Sorry, I'm already taken," she held up her hand with her wedding and engagement ring on it, wiggling her fingers, "And very happily so," she added, kissing the Doctor's cheek.

He grinned at her, looking very pleased as he moved closer to her, his eyes flicking towards her lips…

"What does this vires do?" one of the men questioned, sounding worried.

The Hatter turned back to the screen as the Doctor sighed heavily, looking very disappointed, "It's okay, it's just a reset command," she explained to the man, "It resets counters by getting into the Wi-Fi, and resets every counter it can come across, such as clocks and calendars," she shrugged, "Basically, anything with a chip will default to zero at exactly the same time all over the planet".

"But yeah, we could be lying," the Doctor looked at the screen, his tone light, "Why should you trust us? We'll let our best man explain," he paused for a long moment, waiting. When nothing happen, he glanced at Jeff, who was simply watching curiously, "Jeff," he whispered to him pointedly, " _You're_ our best man".

Jeff's eyes widened, "You _what_?" he breathed.

He quickly lowered the laptop lid, looking back to the man as the Hatter shook her head, looking mildly amused, "Listen to me," he clapped a hand on Jeff's shoulder, "In ten minutes, you're going to be a legend. In ten minutes, everyone on that screen is going to be offering you any job you want," Jeff blinked, "But first, you have to be magnificent," he continued, "You have to make them trust you and get them working. This is it, Jeff, right here, right now. This is when you fly. Today's the day you save the world".

He simply stared at them, looking stunned, "Why me?"

"Well…" the Hatter titled her head, gesturing around the room, "This your bedroom," she grabbed the laptop from the Doctor, pushing it into Jeff's hands, "Now, you've got a lot of work ahead of you".

The Doctor grabbed the Time Lady's hand and they stood, running out of the room, slamming the door behind them, before the blonde paused, and ran back, throwing the door back open, and peeking her head back inside.

"Oh, and you might want to delete your internet history," she advised him, giving him a serious look, "Seriously, you don't want those guys to see _that_ sort of thing".

And with that, she tipped the tip of her hat at him, and raced back out into the hall, grabbing the Doctor's hand again as they ran back downstairs, and outside. They ran down the garden path, pausing at the gate as the Doctor looked up and down the street, before the blonde nudged his side, nodding across the street. He followed her gaze, breaking into a grin, and they ran across the road.

…

The Doctor quickly drove them down the road towards the hospital, while the Hatter sat beside him, frowning slightly as she watched him drive. They had ended up getting into an argument over who should be the one to drive, and the Doctor had pointed out that she had done it last time. Sadly, she had been forced to admit defeat.

Rory's phone rang and the Time Lady put it on speaker, "Doctor?" Amy's voice came over, the sound of people talking in the background, "Hatter? We're at the hospital, but we can't get through".

"Look in the mirror," the blonde told her, laughing slightly.

"…oh".

"You know, that costume really is quite handy".

"What did he…or she say?" Rory's voice asked, sounding slightly distance, as if he was standing behind her.

"Look in the mirror…ha, ha!" Amy replied, laughing slightly as she realised what she had meant, "Uniform. Are you on your way? You're going to need a car".

"Don't worry," the Hatter grinned, glancing across to the Doctor, "We managed to…ah, shall we say… _borrow_ one".

The Doctor flashed her his own smile and a wink, reaching up and hitting a button just above him, setting off the fire truck's sirens, and she ended the call.

"You've been waiting to do that ever since we got in here, haven't you?" she raised her eyebrows at him, looking fond.

"Yep".

"Oh, it's nice to see that you're still a child at heart, sweetheart".

….

A few minutes past, when the phone rang again, and the Hatter quickly answered it, "Did you manage to get in?" she questioned quickly.

"Yep," Amy told them, "But so's Prisoner Zero".

"You need to get out of there," the Doctor called across to the phone, exchanging a look with the blonde.

"He was so angry," a woman's voice came over, sounding distant, and they frowned slightly, not recognising the voice, "He kept shouting and shouting, and that dog. The size of that dog…"

"Amy, who is that?" the Hatter asked, sounding worried. After all, it would be the perfect way to get close to Amy and Rory by Prisoner Zero disguising itself as someone else, catching them off guard by acting as someone in need, or afraid.

"…I swear it was rabid," the woman continued, the voice growing even more distant, as if Amy was moving further away from her, "And he just went mad, attacking everyone. Where did he go, did you see? Has he gone? We hid in the ladies," there was a pause, and the woman sighed slightly, "Oh, I'm getting it wrong again aren't I?"

The Time Lords eyes widened, realising what that could only mean, "Amy, Rory, get out of there!" the Hatter shouted urgently.

"…I'm always doing that," the woman…well, actually, Prisoner Zero admitted, "So many mouths".

"Oh, my God!" they could hear Rory exclaim, sounding frightened.

"Amy?" the Doctor tried, struggling to keep his eyes on the road, and pay attention to what was going on over the phone, "Amy, what's happening?" the sound of running footsteps came over, along with an animalistic like roar, when something banged loudly, sounding like a door being closed, and something banging against it, "Amy, talk to us!"

"We're in the coma word, but it's here," Amy replied, sounding slightly breathless, "It's getting in".

"Stay calm," the Hatter told them, tying to make her own voice sound comforting, "Now, tell us, what window are you?"

"What, sorry?"

"Which window?" the Doctor asked, raising his voice slightly.

"Ah…first floor, on the left, fourth from the end".

The Hatter ended the call as the Doctor hit another button, rising the ladder on top of the truck, just as they drove towards the hospital, heading towards the window. She quickly sent a text, telling Amy and Rory to duck as the end of the ladder smashed through the window, and the truck came to a stop.

They quickly opened there doors and jumped out, running to the back of the truck, and climbed up, and onto the ladder, the Doctor first as they climbed over it, and through the smashed window. One he was through, the Doctor turned back around, helping the Hatter to climb through before they both dropped on the floor beside Rory and Amy, who were kneeling on the ground, staring at them in shock.

"Right!" the Doctor draped his arm over the two humans, looking at them as the Time Lady glanced across to the end of the room to where Prisoner Zero was disguised as a woman, holding the hands of two little girls, "Hello. Are we late?" he asked them.

"Not quite," the Hatter shook her head, not needing to look at the clock, "We still have three minutes left," she smiled, glancing at him, "I told you we could do it, sweetheart".

He grinned at her, "I didn't doubt you for a second, dear".

"Time for what, Time Lords?" Prisoner Zero asked mockingly as the Time Lords straightened, stepping closer.

"Oh, you can do so much in three minutes," the Time Lady remarked, raising her eyebrows at the other alien, "Shall I give you a list? But, I ought to warn you, the list is longer than three minutes, funnily enough".

The Doctor took the blonde's hand, looking back to Prisoner Zero, "Take the disguise off. They'll find you in a heartbeat. Nobody dies".

"The Atraxi will kill me this time. If I am to die, let there be fire".

The Hatter sighed, tilting her head, "Right, then," she nodded slowly, thinking quickly, "You came through to this world through a crack in time and space, why can't you just do it again?" she questioned, "Leave here?"

Prisoner Zero shook its head, "I did not open the crack".

The Time Lords frowned, exchanging a look, "Somebody _did_ ," the Doctor commented.

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe, don't you know where they came from?" they lowered their eyes to the ground, not wanting to admit that they didn't, and the creature smirked at them, "You don't, do you?" the woman's voice changed to that of a little girls, "The Doctor and the Hatter in the TARDIS doesn't know. Doesn't know, doesn't know!" the woman's voice returned to normal as the Time Lords glanced up at a clock, "The Universe is cracked," she informed them, "The Pandorica will open. Silence will fall".

There was a clicking noise and the Time Lords looked back over to the clock, breaking into smiles as they relaxed.

"And, we're off!" the Doctor grinned, glancing at Prisoner Zero, "Look at that!" he pointed up to the clock, looking over to Amy and Rory, "Look at that!" they all looked up at the clock to see that it read 0:00, having reset itself as the Hatter laughed, "Yeah, I know, just a clock," he continued as everyone looked back to him, "Whatever. But do you know what's happening right now?" he raised his eyebrows.

"In one bedroom, somewhere out there," the Hatter gestured out towards the window, still smiling broadly, "Our…well, let's call them our team are busy working. Our friend, Jeff, and the rest of the world are working together. And do you know what they're doing?" she asked, looking around the rest of the room, not waiting for a reply, "They're busy spreading the word all around the world, quantum fast".

"The word is out," he added brightly, "And do you know what the word is?" the Time Lords looked at each other, saying in unison as they turned back to the alien, "The word is Zero," he smiled slightly as Prisoner Zero tilted it's head at them, not seeming overly concerned, "Now, me, if I was up in the sky in a battleship, monitoring all Earth communications, I'd probably take that as a hint".

"Or you would hope so, at least," the Time Lady coughed, casting him a sideways look.

He paused, "Well…yeah," he agreed before shaking himself, "And if I had a whole battle fleet surrounding the planet, I'd be able to track a simple old computer virus to its source in…what?" he glanced at the blonde, "Under a minute?"

"Easily," she nodded, smiling slightly as she reached inside her pocket, "Oh, and we should mention that this is the source," she pulled out Rory's phone, holding it up for everyone to see.

Suddenly, a bright white light shown through the windows.

"Ooh!" he cheered as Amy and Rory run towards the broken window, peeking outside, "And I think they just found us!"

"The Atraxi are limited," Prisoner Zero informed them, still not looking very worried, "While I am in this form, they'll still be unable to detect me," it smirked, "They've tracked a phone, not me".

"True," the Hatter smiled, looking slightly amused, "But this is the part I like," she waved the phone around, glancing at it, "Do you want to guess what's on this phone?" she sighed slightly in mock disappointment when it didn't, "Oh, you're no fun. You see, this phone is full of pictures of you," she began to scroll through them, "Of every form you have learnt to take, right in here".

She handed the Doctor the phone and he took it, fiddling with it, "Ooh, and being uploaded about…now," he hit the button, looking back up to Prisoner Zero, "And the final score is, no TARDIS, no screwdriver, two minutes to spare…" he held out his arms, grinning, "Who da man?"

Everyone, including Prisoner Zero, stared at him, and the Hatter pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if this was how her old companions felt every time she went out in public with them on Earth. She was really going to send them apology letters after this.

"…oh," he sighed heavily, looking slightly embarrassed as he sheepishly lowered his arms, glancing at the Hatter, "I'm never saying that again," he muttered, "Fine".

"Good," the blonde pattered his arm, looking relieved.

Prisoner Zero titled it's head at them, "Then I shall take a new form".

"Oh, stop it," he waved it off, "You know you can't. It takes months to form that kind of psychic link".

The Hatter narrowed her eyes, growing concerned that they had forgotten something.

The alien grinned at them, "And I've had _years_ ".

Prisoner Zero began glowing orange and the Hatter's eyes widened, grabbing the Doctor's hand as she realised what it meant, and spun around, just in time to see Amy collapse. Rory knelt on the ground by her side at once, grabbing her hand, looking worried.

"No!" the Doctor gasped, and they ran over to her, kneeling beside her, "Amy!" he called as the Hatter gently put her hands on Amy's face, "You've got to hold on," he tried again, "Amy? Don't sleep! You've got to stay awake, please…"

"Doctor, Hatter," Rory pattered their backs, catching there attention as he pointed back over to Prisoner Zero.

They looked back over to the alien, only to see the Doctor standing there, looking very dishevelled in his torn clothing, his shirt half hanging out of his trousers.

The Doctor straighten, staring at himself, looking confused, "Well, that's rubbish," he scoffed slightly, glancing at Rory and the Hatter, "Who's that supposed to be?"

Rory blinked at him, "That's _you_ ".

"Me?" he looked down at himself, "Is that what I look like?"

He looked to the Time Lady, who smiled at him, "I think you look quite handsome," she remarked, giving him a wink.

The Doctor seemed to brighten slightly at that, running a hand down his front, as if that might help, "Yeah?" he grinned slowly across to her, his eyes twinkling.

"You don't know?" Rory frowned at him.

He gave himself a sharp shake and glanced at Rory, "Busy day," he shrugged slightly as he stood, moving closer to Prisoner Zero, "Why me, though?" he asked the creature, "You're linked to her," he nodded back over to Amy, "Why are you copying me?"

"I'm not," a little girls voice with a Scottish accent answered, and little Amelia stepped out from behind the duplicate Doctor, holding his hand, while the other was holding onto a duplicate of the Hatter.

Both Time Lords blinked in surprise, glancing at each other, before eyeing there copies. The Hatter was quite shocked to see herself being copied, right down to her hat, though, she supposed that she really shouldn't be surprised, considering how much of an impact herself and the Doctor had apparently had on Amy's life. It was almost sweet to see how Amy still saw them as her protectors, even now.

"Poor Amy Pond," Prisoner Zero looked at the Time Lords, shaking its head at them as they stared back at it, "Still such a child inside. Dreaming of the magic Doctor and Hatter she knows will return to save her," the creature looked them up and down, "What a disappointment you've been".

The Hatter frowned thoughtfully, looking down at Amelia, "No…" she shook her head, "She's dreaming about us because she can hear us".

The Doctor ran back over to them, kneeling on the floor by Amy, and leaned closer towards her, "Amy, don't just hear us, listen," he told her, "Remember the room, the room in your house you couldn't see," the Hatter closed her eyes, placing her hands on her face again, trying to help Amy to access the memories faster, "Remember you went inside. We tried to stop you, but you did. You went in the room. You went inside".

"Come on, Amy," the Time Lady murmured, her eyes still closed, "Dream about that room, what you saw in there".

"No!" Prisoner Zero shouted, "No, no…!" the creature began to glow with the orange energy again, transforming into a long, blue eel-like creature with very sharp teeth.

The Doctor stood and stepped closer to it, smirking as he eyed it, "Well done, Prisoner Zero," he remarked as the creature growled angrily at him, "A perfect impersonation of yourself".

The bright white light outside the window seemed to grow even brighter, focused on Prisoner Zero.

"Prisoner Zero is located," the loud voice of the Atraxi announced outside, "Prisoner Zero is restrained".

The Hatter stood, watching as the creature looked back to her and the Doctor, "Silence," it hissed at them, "Silence will fall".

Slowly, the creature began to fade before them, and a loud humming sound echoed through the room as the Atraxi engines outside sounded, causing a wind to blow through the room, ruffling their hair.

The Time Lady jogged over to the smashed window, looking out to see the sky back to its normal state, even the birds had begun singing again, but as she pulled herself back into the room, she meet the Doctor's eyes, and they exchanged a look. The Doctor nodded and reached inside his pocket, grabbing Rory's phone, and began dialling as she joined him.

"The sun…" Rory looked out towards the window, eyeing the sunlight flickering through the windows, "It's back to normal, right?" he asked the Time Lords quickly, "That's…that's good, yeah? That means it's over…" Amy slowly blinked awake and he looked back down to her, "Amy, are you okay?" he gently eased her back upright as she looked around, seeming slightly confused, "Are you with us?"

"What happened?" Amy groaned.

"They did it," he gestured over to the Time Lords, who were busy fiddling with his phone, "The Doctor and the Hatter did it".

"Not quite yet," the Hatter looked back over towards them, casting Amy a concerned look, "You ought to take it slowly".

Rory eyed them, frowning at what they were doing with his phone, "What are you doing?"

"Tracking the signal," the Doctor replied, not looking up from the phone, "Sorry in advance," he added.

"About what?"

The Time Lady winced slightly, though, she couldn't stop the hint of amusement in her voice, "The bill," she clarified for him, and his face fell.

The Doctor finished tracking the signal and held the phone up to his ear, the blonde quickly moved closer to him, "Oi, I didn't say you could go!" he called into the phone, frowning, "Article fifty seven of the Shadow Proclamation. This is a fully established level five planet, and you were going to burn it?" he shook his head as the Hatter nodded in approval, " _What_? Did you think no-one was watching? You lot, back here, _now_ ," he ended the call and chucked the phone over to Rory, who caught it, glancing at the Hatter, "Okay, _now_ we've done it".

"Well, they do need to be taught a lesson," the Hatter shrugged, linking her arm through his, and giving him a smile, "Oh, and I did like that part about the Shadow Proclamation. Very authority sounding".

He grinned at her and winked as they headed for the doors.

"Ah…did he just bring them back?" Rory asked from behind them, sounding slightly panicked as Amy stood, hurrying after them, "Did they just save the world from aliens and then bring all the aliens back again?"

"Come on, Rory!" the Time Lady called over her shoulder, grinning, "Don't want to miss out on the rest of the fun, now, do we?"

The Doctor pushed through a set of double doors, looking determined as he and the blonde walked down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Amy asked as she caught up to them.

"The roof!" the Doctor answered, shaking his head, "No, hang on," he slipped his arm out of the blonde's, grabbing her hand instead, and pulled her into another room, which turned out to be a changing room. He quickly began grabbing different bits of clothing that was scattered around, throwing some over his shoulder.

"What's in here?" the red head frowned, looking around the room as she and Rory entered behind them.

The Hatter smiled, looking amused as she watched the Doctor wonder around, pulling thing's out of lockers and off hooks, tossing the ones he disregarded over his shoulder, most landing on Rory, "Well, he can hardly save the world in those tattered old things, can he?" she raised her eyebrows back to the human, before tilting her head, "Though, he did once save the world in Pyjamas".

"I need a decent shirt," the Doctor agreed, tossing more clothing over his shoulder, moving further down the room, "To hell with the raggedy," he grinned as he grabbed a coat, twirling around with it, "Time to put on a show!"

"Oh, I think you'll manage that anyway, sweetheart," she laughed fondly.

"Well, I did learn from the best," he flashed her a bright smile, dropping the coat, and grabbing her hand, twirling her around, making her laugh even harder as he kissed her quickly, reluctantly letting her go again. He grabbed a pink striped shirt, shaking his head, and tossing it back over his shoulder, hitting Rory in his face.

Rory snatched it off his face, "You just summoned aliens back to Earth!" he exclaimed, still shocked as he glanced at Amy, "Actual aliens! Deadly aliens! Aliens…of death, and now you're…" he trailed off, his eyes widening as the Doctor stripped off his tie and shirt, pulling it over his head, "…taking your clothes off".

The Hatter laughed at his reaction, leaning against the wall. Ah, it wouldn't have been too long ago that she would have turned her back, probably blushing madly at the idea of the Doctor stripping off in the same room as her, but…well, marriage life really had changed all of that.

Rory glanced at Amy, who was watching the Doctor, "Amy, he's taking his clothes off," he said to her as she watched the Doctor, apparently admiring what she saw.

"Turn your back if it embarrasses you," the Doctor shrugged, not bothered as he undid the zipper of his trousers, letting them fall to the ground to join the rest of his old clothing, and going back to his search for new clothing.

"Are you stealing clothing now?" he continued, his eyes flickering to Amy, who was still watching, "Those clothes belonged to people, you know," he turned his back as the Doctor tried on a dark blue shirt, quickly pulling it off again. He glanced at Amy, "Are you not going to turn your back?" he asked her quietly.

Amy crossed her arms across her chest, "Nope," she replied smugly.

The Hatter stepped forward, "Amelia," she gave her a pointed look, lightly grabbing her shoulder, and turning her around to face the opposite way. She really, really didn't want to end up with another Rose on her hands, not to mention she could tell it was bothering Rory the way Amy was looking at the Doctor.

She huffed slightly, "Fine".

The Doctor paused as he pulled on another shirt, glancing back at her, "Jealous, dear?"

"Not at all," the Time Lady shook her head, giving him a small smile, "But I would rather not have any possibly awkward situation in the future," she stepped over to the pile of clothing he had collected, and picked up a pale pink, button up shirt with red strips on the cuffs, and held it out to him, "Try this one," she suggested, "It looks like it would suit you".

He eyed it for a moment before breaking into a smile, and taking it.

….

The Doctor stepped out onto the roof of the hospital, wearing the shirt the Hatter had picked out for him, along with black boots, and black trousers with red braces hanging down beside his legs, while poor Rory was forced to carry a number of different coats and jackets over one arm as he, Army, and the Time Lady followed right behind his heels. Around his neck, he had a couple of different coloured and patterned ties draped loosely, but there hadn't been time to choose as they quickly spotted the Atraxi ship hovering at the end of the roof, waiting for them.

"So this is a good idea, was it?" Amy called, standing back with Rory as they watched the Time Lords stroll calmly closer to the ship, "They were leaving!"

"Yes, leaving is all well in good," the Hatter agreed, glancing back over her shoulder to them, "But never coming back is far better, wouldn't you say?" she raised her eyebrows, "Less anything like this happens again".

"Come on, then!" the Doctor shouted at the ship, flashing the Hatter a wink, "The Doctor will see you now!"

She laughed, shaking her head at him, looking fond, "Oh, you just had to go and make that pun about yourself".

The large eye attached to the bottom the ship zoomed down, right in front of them, and began looking at them closely. A bright light flew out of the pupil, and ran down them both, scanning, before it faded. The Doctor waited for it to stop and pulled his braces over his shoulders.

"You are not from this world," the Atraxi determined.

"No, but we've put a lot of work into it," he replied, grabbing one of the ties around his neck, and glancing down at it thoughtfully, "Oh, hmm…I don't know," he held it out towards the Hatter, since she had already helped pick out his shirt, "What do you think, dear?"

The Hatter eyed the tie, "Though, I'm really not the best person to be asking, that colour isn't you, sweetheart," she told him, shaking her head.

He smiled and tossed the tie over his shoulder, hitting Rory, who only just managed to catch it before it hit his face…again, "What do you think of the braces?" he glanced at her, his eyes twinkling.

"I think that they are very, _very_ nice," she grinned cheekily, grabbing one and lightly pinging it back, almost laughing as he stepped closer to her, looking very intent.

"Is this world important?" the Atraxi asked, reminding them once again of why they were on the roof in the first place.

The Doctor cleared his throat, "Important?" he repeated, scoffing slightly at the question as the Hatter's eyes narrowed at the eye, crossing her arms across her chest, "What's that mean, _important_?"

"How can you even ask that?" the Time Lady demanded, sounding angry, "There's six billion people who live on this planet, and you have the nerve to ask if they are _important_?" she forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to keep herself calm, "How about this question: is this world a threat to the Atraxi?"

He grabbed another tie and threw it over his shoulder again, "Well, come on," he encouraged when they did nothing, "You're monitoring the whole planet. Is this world a _threat_?"

A projection flew out of the eyeball, showing a hologram of Earth, before images began flickering of the Earth's history, of armies marching, nuclear explosions, and of different religions from all over the planet, showing both the good and the bad. The images faded and returned to showing the Earth.

"…no," the ship answered after a moment.

"Are the people of this world guilty of any crime by the laws of the Atraxi?" he questioned, throwing another tie over his shoulder, leaving him with only one. The Time Lady gave him an approving smile.

The hologram flickered again, showing crowds of people all standing together, of cites celebrating as one.

"No".

"Okay," he nodded, smiling slightly, "One more, just one," he began to do the top buttons on his shirt up, talking at the same time, "Is this world protected?" images of the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Raconoss, the Ood, Sycorax, Sontarians, the Silurians, the Reapers, the Hath all started playing before them, "And what you've got ask is…" he wrapped the tie around his neck and the Hatter helped him to tie it, grinning at him, "What happened to them?"

He turned away, walking over to Rory, and grabbed a brown, tweed blazer out of his arms, pulling it on as he turned back, grabbing the Hatter's hand as they watched as the hologram flickered, showing images of each of there previous regenerations, most of them standing and smiling together, only the First and Ninth Doctor were the only Doctor's to be shown without a Hatter standing beside him, since she hadn't left Gallifrey until after she regenerated into her Second body, though, she did notice with some amusement as it reached there Tenth bodies that they seemed to be standing closer, there smiles seeming slightly different.

Finally, as it reached the Doctor's new body, they stepped forward through the hologram, "Hello," they grinned as the images faded, "I'm the Doctor," he introduced himself, nodding the blonde beside him, "And she's the Hatter," his laughed softly, "Basically…run".

The eye zoomed back up to the ship, almost trembling with fear as it seemed to almost widen. The entire ship began spinning very fast above them before taking off back into the sky as the Time Lords watched it go, exchanging amused looks as it disappeared out of sight. Amy and Rory laughed behind them.

Suddenly, the Doctor jerked, and winced loudly, drawing the Hatter's attention. He quickly reached inside his pocket and pulled out his TARDIS key, holding out for her to see as it glowed faintly with golden energy. They meet each other's eyes, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Is that it?" Amy asked, staring after the ship, "Is that them gone? Who were they?" she frowned as she looked back to the Time Lords, only to see that they had vanished. Her head snapped back over to the door of the roof, only to see it wide open.

…

The Doctor and the Hatter held each other's hands as they ran down the front steps of the hospital, and out. They raced back to Amy's garden, both grateful that Leadworth was such a small village that they managed to run all the way without even getting out of breath, before they came to a skidding halt before the TARDIS.

The TARDIS was an even brighter blue then had been before with a St. John's Ambulance sticker on one of the doors, opposite the instructions on the second door, and even the shape was slightly different. The smoke had disappeared and the windows were fixed.

"Oh, this is…" the Hatter trailed off, shaking her head as she lightly reached out and touched the doors, smiling as she felt a soft hum, "…beautiful".

"Okay," the Doctor breathed excitedly, his eyes wide, "What have you got for us this time?" he looked at the blonde, "Ready?"

"Sweetheart, if you don't open those doors right now, then I'm going to have to do it myself," she warned him, almost trembling with excitement, "And I really, really don't want to take this moment away from you".

He grinned at her and picked up her hand, placing a kiss on it before turning back to the TARDIS. He reached out, unlocked the doors, opening them, and they looked inside, their eyes widening in amazement, "Look at you!" he gasped in wonder, laughing, "Oh, you sexy thing!" his eyes flew the blonde, looking slightly worried, "I mean…"

She pattered his arm, looking amused, "Doctor, believe me, I'm right behind you on this," she stepped further into the room and spun around on the spot, "This is one sexy ship…and I don't often get to say that!"

He laughed and stepped inside, closing the doors behind him as he grabbed her, twirling her around again, before looked back to the room, his arm moving around her waist. The console was filled with a warm, orange and yellow lights, much to the Time Lady's delight, and the walls were a coppery colour. The room itself looked bigger then the last one, with a couple of different levels, with stairs leading up to them, rather than ramps, and a hat stand was by the doors.

They stepped up the steps to the console, looking down through the glass flooring that looked down to where they could see a large swing like seat sitting among wires and cables from right under the console, while the console itself was shaped like a hexogen, filled with varies new controls, including a typewriter, and across the room, on the wall close to the front doors, a large circular screen was, obviously an extra scanner screen.

"Well, would you look at that," the Hatter grinned as she began to move around the console, running her hands lightly over the controls, "She listened to what I said I liked in a console," she glanced around the Time Rotor, "Warm lighting, lots of space…" she paused, "It's even has a bit of a steampunk flair to it".

The Doctor moved around to meet her, placing his hands on a lever, "How about…a trip to the moon?" he suggested brightly, "Nice little simple trip, just to run her in".

She tilted her head in consideration, "Will there be tea and biscuits?"

"Of course, dear," he leaned closer to her, tweaking the tip of her nose, making her laugh as he pulled the leaver, setting them off.

"All right, but we have to make sure we're back here soon. Oh, and while we're doing that, I can finally get out of these tattered clothes".

He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and stepped closer to her, "I could always help…"

She meet his eyes, giving him a cheeky smile, "We'll see, sweetheart," she replied, moving her hand slowly up his chest, inwardly laughing as he shivered slightly at the touch, and straightened his new bowtie, "Did I ever mention how much I love bowties?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "And you had the nerve to laugh at mine. I would love to see his reaction now".

He grabbed her wrist and kissed it, holding it tightly "I knew you'd like it," he remarked, "And the bracers".

"Well, you were quite right, I do like them," she nodded, her eyes brightening slightly, "Oh, and I just remembered, I told you I would make you a new sonic, didn't I?" she cast her eyes around the room thoughtfully, "How about I make the casing look similar to the new console?"

"And bigger then the last one," he reminded her quickly.

She rolled her eyes fondly, "How could I forget?" she shook her head before pausing, grabbing one of his bracers as her tone turned innocent, "Now, I do believe you said something about helping me with these clothes…?"

And without warning, he grabbed her waist again, and pulled her closer…

…

After a long wardrobe change for the Hatter, the Time Lords spent some time relaxing on the Moon, drinking tea as they admired the Earth from there advantage point, simply enjoying the fact they could finally just sit still for two minutes without worrying about the Master or Prisoner Zero.

Eventually, once all the biscuits were gone, they returned to the TARDIS, were the Time Lady set to work on the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, while he spent some time alone with the old girl in the console room. Soon enough, though, she had finished it, slotting it into the console so that it could finish downloading the original screwdriver's software, effectively making it the exact same device…only with a different case, and they landed back in Amy's garden, in the very same spot.

They stepped outside to find that it was night time, and the Hatter couldn't help but feel a small spark of dread that they might have gone a bit further then they had meant to, since it had only been midday when they had left, but the Doctor hardly seemed to notice at all as he wrapped his arm around her waist happily.

It only took a minute before the front door the house open and Amy, wearing a white nightgown, covered by a dressing gown, and slippers came running out of the house.

"Sorry about running off earlier!" the Doctor called to her, grinning, "Brand new TARDIS. Bit exciting".

"Among other things," the Hatter muttered to him, coughing slightly as she felt her cheeks warming, despite the slight chill in the air. Another thing that pointed to thing's being wrong, since she recalled that it was relatively warm before.

He cast her a cheeky smile of his own, pulling her even closer to him, "Just had a quick hop to the moon and back to run her in," he informed Amy as she ran across the garden to join them, "She's ready for the big stuff now," he pattered the side of the TARDIS.

Amy paused, staring in-between them, "It's you," she remarked quietly, "You came back".

"Well, we did promise, didn't we?" the Time Lady sent her a small smile, "And I always keep my promises," but her smile quickly faded as she noticed Amy's face, the look on it alone almost confirming her concern, "What's wrong?"

She stepped closer to them, eyeing the Doctor, "And you kept the clothes," she glanced at the Hatter, taking note of the clean, completely tatter free clothing she was wearing, too, "And your clothes look cleaner and new".

"Well, we did just save the world," the Doctor shrugged, looking down at himself, "The whole planet, for about the millionth time, no charge. Yeah, shoot me," he rolled his eyes slightly, "I kept the clothes".

"Including the bowtie," she smirked mockingly, eyeing his red bow tie, her eyes flickering over to the Time Lady's rainbow one.

"Oi!" the Hatter pointed a finger at her, "Don't knock the bow ties!"

The Doctor straightened his, "Yeah, there cool," he nodded in agreement, not seeming to notice her mocking tone, "Bow ties are cool," he and the Hatter high fived.

She stared at them as if she thought they were insane, "Are you from another planet?"

"Yeah," he replied happily, the blonde grinning.

"Okay…"

"So what do you think?"

"What?"

"About other planets," the Time Lady clarified, raising her eyebrows, "Care to see some?"

She frowned, leaning closer to them, "What does that mean?" she asked quietly.

"It means…" the Doctor glanced at the Hatter, who nodded, and he looked back to the red head, "Well, it means…come with us".

"Where?"

They smiled brightly at her, "Wherever you like".

She glanced at the TARDIS, looking up at it slowly, "All that stuff that happened," she began, her voice quiet, "The hospital, the spaceships, Prisoner Zero…"

"Oh, don't worry," he shook his head, still smiling, "That's just the beginning. There's _loads_ more".

"Yeah, but those things…those amazing things, all that stuff…" she paused, stepping right up to them, her face turning hard with anger, "That was two years ago," she glared.

"Oh!" his eyes widened and the Hatter groaned loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose, "…oops".

"Yeah".

"Oh, why do I ever let you drive without helping you?" the Time Lady moaned, looking up at the night sky, shaking her head.

"You were busy," he tried to defend himself weakly.

"Not busy enough that I couldn't have helped! But no, the man who failed his TARDIS exam _three_ times is too smug to ask for help from someone who actually passed first go!"

"You passed almost everything, though!"

"Yeah, and if I needed to do something with plants or art, I would ask for your help!"

"Oi!" Amy suddenly shouted, holding up her hands, looking annoyed, and they quickly fell silent, "What's with you two?" she frowned, eyeing them, "Are you…married or something?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look and looked back to her, saying in unison, "Yeah".

"You mean you didn't notice until now?" the Hatter asked her, blinking.

She blushed, shifting slightly embarrassedly on the spot, "You too were pretty weird just in general," she shrugged, avoiding their eyes, mainly the Hatter's, seeing as she had been staring at her husband when he was getting changed. No wonder she had made her turn her back, "I just thought that was… _you_ ".

"Well, I think that's a first," the blonde remarked as the Doctor stared at Amy, looking amazed, "I don't think I've come across someone who didn't notice, even well before we even admitted our feelings to each other".

"How could you not notice?" the Doctor exclaimed, shaking his head, "Anyway," he forced himself to get back to the main topic, remembering how they had missed two years, "So we've missed…" he began.

Amy's glare came back into full force, "Fourteen years!" she snapped.

"Fourteen years since fish custard," he winced slightly as the Hatter rubbed her face, "Amy Pond, the girl who waited, you've waited long enough".

She swallowed and looked back at the TARDIS, "When I was a kid, you said there was a swimming pool and a library, and the swimming pool was _in_ the library," she frowned slightly, looking back to them.

"Oh, yeah," the Hatter nodded slowly, recalling ending up in it, not to mention all those lovely books. She very dearly hoped that the TARDIS managed to fix any water damage done to them, "Well, it might still be in there," she shrugged, "I'm not sure what happened, but it will turn up…eventually".

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "So, coming?" he asked Amy.

She shook her head, "No".

"You wanted to come fourteen years ago".

"I grew up".

"I wouldn't worry," the Time Lady said lightly, smiling, "We'll soon fix that".

The Doctor clicked his fingers, and the TARDIS doors opened, bathing them in the warm, golden light of the inside. Amy's eyes widened as she looked inside, her mouth dropping open slightly as she glanced back to them, and they gave her a nod. She laughed in wonder and slowly stepped inside, staring around in amazement as the Time Lords followed her, the blonde closing the doors behind them.

"Well?" the Doctor looked at Amy, who was still staring around, "Anything you want to say? Any passing remarks?" he glanced at the Hatter, who was watching Amy with a soft smile, always having loved the looks of people's faces when they first stepped inside a TARDIS, "We've heard them all".

"Max let out a string of swear words when he first saw my TARDIS console," the Hatter commented fondly, looking amused, "I ended up threatening to send him to his bedroom if he did it again," she laughed, shaking her head, "Oh, my Second Self was quite amusing".

The Doctor laughed along with her, thinking the same thing, but then again, he had found all of her past selves to be amusing as he took her hand, leading her up to the console.

"I'm in my nightie," Amy breathed weakly behind them.

The Time Lady paused, glancing back at her, "Well, that's another first," she gave her a comforting smile, "Never mind, there's lots of clothes from every era in the wardrobe".

"And possibly a swimming pool," the Doctor added, looking up at the ceiling, "So, all of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will. Where do you want to start?"

Amy blinked, dragging her eyes away from the rest of the room to look at them, "You are so sure that I'm coming," she began to walk up the steps to the console.

They turned around to look at her, "Yeah, we are".

She eyed them suspiciously, "Why?"

"Cause you're the Scottish girl in the English village, and I know how that feels," the Doctor answered.

The Hatter glanced at him, "Ah…save for the girl part," she paused, "Oh, and the living in an English village part, too, but I guess the point still stands".

Amy raised her eyebrows as she touched the console, snatching her hand back almost at once, "Oh, do you?" she looked around at them.

The blonde moved around to her, lightly battering her hands away from the controls, "Now, now," she waved a finger at her, but looked more amused then stern, "Don't want to destroy the Universe, do we?" she quickly fixed what she had meddled with, "Anyway, all the years you've lived here, pretty much all your life, and you still have the accent?"

The Doctor fiddled with a couple of controls, glancing over the controls to Amy, "Yeah, you're coming," he pointed at her.

"Can you get me back for tomorrow morning?"

"It's a time machine," he reminded her, "We can get you back, with the Hatter's help…"

"Thanks you!" the Hatter called.

"…back five minutes ago," he continued, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked back to Amy, "Why, what's tomorrow?"

"Nothing," Amy shrugged innocently, "Nothing. Just…" she lowered her eyes, "You know…stuff".

The Hatter eyed her curiously, "What kind of 'stuff?'" she asked, but before she could answer, the Doctor cut across her.

"Oh!" the Doctor cheered as his new sonic screwdriver finished downloading, popping out of the slot in the console. He grabbed it excitedly as the Time Lady moved around to watch, smiling at how delighted he looked as he flashed it at thin air, the green light on the end, just as the blonde had promised, lighting up, "Ooh, and it's bigger, too! Lovely!" he whirled around, pulling the Hatter closer, and kissed her, "Thanks, dears," he grinned at her, and pattered the console as he slipped his new sonic inside his blazer.

"I knew you would like it, sweetheart," the Time Lady laughed fondly as he moved around to the other side of the console, and began typing something onto the typewriter, while she pulled a couple of levers.

Amy watched them both work, "Why me?" she asked suddenly.

"Why not?" he asked, glancing over at her.

"No, seriously," she narrowed her eyes at them, "You are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night. It's a fair question," she pointed out, "Why me?"

"Don't know," he shrugged, still working at the controls, "Fun. Do we have to have a reason?"

"People always have a reason".

The Hatter paused in her work and moved around to stand beside her, meeting her eyes, "And do we really look like people?" she raised her eyebrows at her, giving her a soft smile, "Have you ever seen _people_ like us before? And if so, I would love to meet them".

"Yes, you do look like people," she replied quickly.

"Been knocking around on our own for a while," the Doctor explained to her, seeing that she needed an explanation, " _My_ choice, but I've started talking a lot. It's been driving the Hatter up the wall," he nodded over to the blonde, "She threatened to knock me out if I didn't shut up".

"I was trying to read a very good book," the Hatter defended, giving him a look, "And you just kept blabbering on," she sighed, her hand moving to her left ear, "You've been giving me an earache".

"You're lonely," Amy realised, taking note of just how old and tired their eyes actually looked, "That's it?" she frowned slightly again, "Just that?"

"Just that," the Doctor nodded as the Hatter turned back to the controls, knowing that wasn't completely so, "Promise," he added.

The Hatter nudged his side and discreetly nodded up at the monitor that was hanging from the console were a curved line had appeared on the scanner, shaped just like the crack on Amy's bedroom wall. They exchanged a quick, wary look.

Amy, luckily, didn't seem to notice anything off about them, "Okay," she replied, moving away.

The Time Lady quickly turned off the scanner and stepped over to her, looking at her expression closely, "How are you handling all of this so far?" she asked carefully as the Doctor joined them, leaning against the railing beside the blonde.

"Because this place, sometimes it can make people feel a bit…you know," the Doctor glanced at the red head, too.

"I'm fine," she told them a little too quickly, not seeming to be able to stand still as she swung herself slightly on the railing, "It's just…there's a whole world in here, just like you said. It's all true. I thought…" she looked back to them, "…well, I started to think maybe you were just…like a madman and woman with a box".

"Amy Pond," the Doctor began, sounding very serious, "There's something you'd better understand about us, because it's important, and on day your life may depend on it," she looked back to them, listening carefully, "We are _definitely_ a madman and woman with a box," he grinned as she slowly smiled at them, the Hatter laughing, "Ha, ha! Yeah!"

Amy laughed as the Time Lords turned back to the controls and quickly joined them as they flipped a couple of switchers.

"Right, then," the Time Lady grinned, looking up at the Time Rotor, "Say goodbye to Leadworth, and hello Universe!"

The Time Lords pulled a lever, causing the TARDIS to jolt as they set off, Amy yelped slightly as she grabbed the console to balance herself. They laughed as they watched the Time Rotor move up and down.

 _ **So, did the Hatter's reaction to the Doctor's new outfit surprise anyone? I can see it becoming a habit her grabbing his bracers, or adjusting his bow tie. I can't wait until we get to his own love of hats. Still, at least the Doctor won't be the only one defending the bow tie now, I can just imagine them fangirling over bow ties together while everyone else just looks on in exasperation.**_

 _ **Also, did anyone catch the Morganville Vampires reference I just had to put in here? If anyone is looking for a vampire book series with real, proper vampires then I would highly recommend reading the series. One of the characters kind of reminds me of the Doctor, mixed with Hatter, and triple the craziness. Oh, and just ignore the fact that he's a vampires who has a nasty habit of eating his assistants.**_

 _ **Anyway, next chapter Amy learns how easily distracted the Time Lords can get by past stories, the Doctor takes a trip down memory lane, and what could he have possibly said to cause the Hatter to start panicking? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Lil RabBiT:**_ _ **Aww, I'm so happy you liked it, and I hope this was soon enough. Do you mean as the Moment? I'm still debating about that, since for this story it wouldn't really make sense for it to be Rose, but you never know. I do like to try keeping the story as close to the show as I can. Thanks for the review :)**_


	3. Chapter 3 The Beast Below, Part 1

_**The Beast Below, Part 1**_

The Hatter smiled as she stood beside the Doctor in the TARDIS doors, watching as he held Amy by her ankle, who was floating out of the doors and in space, her hair floating around her head, while her nightgown and dressing gown billowed around her. It had been the Time Lords idea of proving to Amy that they were actually in space, and that it wasn't some trick like she seemed convinced it all was.

The Doctor laughed, "Come on, Pond," he pulled her back inside the TARDIS.

"Do you believe us now?" the Time Lady asked, sounding amused as she raised her eyebrows, and placed her hand on the red heads shoulder to help balance her.

"Okay," Amy took a deep breath, looking amazed as she stared outside at space, "Your box is a spaceship," she laughed, nodding quickly, "It's really, _really_ a spaceship. We are in space!" she paused, inhaling, and glanced at them, "What are we breathing?"

"We've extended the air shell," the Doctor replied, shrugging, "We're fine".

"We could have tea on the moon if it ever took your fancy, too," the Hatter added, exchanging a smile with the Doctor as they recalled their own little tea party on the moon not so long ago.

She frowned slightly, "Wouldn't everything float around, though?"

"We can extend the gravity field," the blonde informed her, shivering slightly, "Trust me, I learnt the hard way just what happens when you try to drink tea on the moon and you've forgotten the gravity field," she sighed, shaking her head, "Max never let me forget it and Alice's dress was completely ruined…not to mention I lost my hat".

"Wait, are you tell me you knew someone called Alice?" Amy stared at her, looking as if she was fighting the urge to laugh.

"Well, every Hatter needs an Alice, don't they?" she grinned, and tweaked her nose, just like the Doctor was so fond of doing to her, laughing as Amy blinked, taken aback by the action.

"How did you forget the gravity field?" the Doctor asked, frowning at her, "That's not like you".

The Hatter blushed and looked back outside, seeming to admire the view, "I have no idea," she muttered, searching around for something to quickly change the subject, when she noticed that the TARDIS had drifted over a large spaceship with buildings enclosed together all over it, just like a floating city, "Ooh, look at this…" she gestured down to the city, eyeing it curiously.

The other two followed her gaze, "Now, that's interesting," the Doctor remarked as he crouched in the door, leaning forward slightly to take a closer look. He straitened once more, grabbing the Hatters hand, and began moving back up to the console, "Twenty ninth century," he continued as the doors closed behind them, "Solar flares roast the Earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves," they moved around the controls, working on them, "Whole nations…"

"Doctor?" Amy called, "Hatter?"

"…migrating to the stairs…"

"Doctor, Hatter?"

He looked over to the Time Lady, grinning, "Isn't that amazing?"

" _Anyone_!" Amy shouted, sounding urgent.

The Time Lords paused in their work and whirled around to find that the doors were closed, but Amy wasn't in sight. The Hatter laughed, realising what must have happened, and hurried back down the steps, and over to the doors, throwing them open to find Amy clinging to the top of the doorframe outside, breathing heavily with fear.

"Need a hand?" the Time Lady struggled not to smile as she held out her hand, biting her lip.

The red head shot her a small glare, quickly taking her hand, and the blonde pulled her back inside the safety of the ship, making sure to close the doors behind them as she helped Amy to steady herself, "Thanks," she nodded to the other woman.

The Hatter, unable to contain herself any longer, smiled, "I'm just glad you didn't fall on top of me," she commented lightly, Amy's eyes winded, "Though, something tells me you're lighter than some people who have fallen on top of me in the past…" she trailed off, casting the Doctor a pointed look.

"The man punched me!" the Doctor defended, "It wasn't my fault you were standing behind me at the time".

"Actually, it was," she crossed her arms across her chest, giving him a look, "If you Tenth self hadn't been so determined to treat me like a piece of glass that would break if someone so much as looked at me, then I wouldn't have been almost crushed to death when Tommy's Father hit you".

He opened and closed his mouth, his hands flapping around weakly, "Why is it I hardly ever win in arguments with you?" he whined after a moment, realising that he really didn't have anything to say against that, since she did have a point.

She flashed him a grin, skipping back up to the console, "It's called marriage, sweetheart".

"You won arguments before we ever got married, too!"

"Ah, yes, and that would be called being my best friend. It's a high price to pay, I'm sure, but you've got to admit that you would be lost without me, and I do make thing's a lot more fun".

His face softened as he eyed her for a moment, "I wouldn't give you up for the Universe, dear," he smiled at her as she blinked, slightly surprised by his sudden change in mood, but returned the smile quickly.

Amy watched them curiously, "Do you do this often?" she asked.

They jumped slightly, almost having forgotten that Amy was still there, since they had become so used to it only being them, "Do what?" they looked over at her.

"I don't know… _that_ ," she shook her head, frowning. It wasn't exactly an argument, nor was it really banter ether, more like a mixture of both, with a hint of flirting.

The Hater laughed, casting her an apologetic look, "Far more often then we should," she admitted, "And usually when we really should be paying attention".

The Doctor cleared his throat, giving himself a sharp shake, "Come on," he nodded to Amy, remembering the ship, "We've found a spaceship".

Amy joined them at the console as the Hatter brought up a closer picture of the ship on the large, circular scanner on the wall for her to see clearer.

"What you're looking at is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland," the blonde told her brightly as Amy smiled at the picture, staring at it in amazement, "Otherwise known as Starship UK for short".

The Doctor smiled broadly, watching Amy's reaction as she laughed slightly, "All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky," he added, "It's Britain, but metal," he looked back to the image, "That's not just a ship, that's an _idea_. That's a whole country, living and laughing and…shopping," Amy laughed again, looking back to them.

The Hatter tilted her head at the screen, "Coming all this way, searching the stars for a new home," she remarked softly, smiling faintly as her eyes drifted back to the Doctor, who meet her eyes, exchanging a quick look.

"Can we go and see?" Amy asked eagerly.

"Course we can," the Doctor agreed, turning to her, "But first, there's a thing".

She frowned as the Time Lords moved back over to the controls, "A thing?"

"An important thing," he nodded, pulling a large magnifying glass out of his pocket, and holding it up to his eye, looking through it. The Hatter coughed, covering up a laugh, "In fact…thing one," his tone turned serious, "We are observes only. That's the rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other people or planets".

The Hatter scoffed loudly, rolling her eyes, "Oh, please, I've heard you say a lot of lies before, but that one is the biggest".

He looked at her, seeming almost hurt as he lowered the magnifying glass, "I wouldn't lie…"

"And there you go again!" her eyes narrowed at him carefully, "Oh, I do hope this regeneration hasn't become a compulsive liar, or something".

He stared at her for a moment before shaking his head, glancing at the monitor hanging from the console, "Ooh, that's interesting," he zoomed in on the image of a little girl in a red check dress and jacket, who was sitting in the middle of a market place alone, crying. Every now and then, she would lift her head and look around, but not one person had stopped to see what was wrong.

The Hatter felt a wave of sympathy wash over her, wanting nothing more than to go to the girl and see what was wrong as she caught the Doctor's eyes, knowing he was feeling the same thing.

"So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah?" Amy glanced at them as she moved closer to them, "Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to…" she looked at the screen, seeming to find watching the little girl almost as troubling as the Time Lords, "Keep filming and let it die," she sighed sadly, "That's got to be hard. I don't think I could do that. Don't you find it hard, being all, like, detached and cold?" suddenly, the Doctor and the Hatter appeared on the screen, the Time Lady touching the girls arm with a comforting smile, saying something to her. Amy gasped as the girl jumped up and ran away, "Doctor, Hatter?"

The Doctor looked at the camera and waved to her as the Time Lady straightened, a concerned look on her face as her eyes seemed to follow after the girl. Amy, frowning, hurried to the TARDIS doors, and stepped out.

"Welcome to London Market," a female's voice came over the loudspeaker, "You are being monitored".

Amy's eyes widened as she stared around in wonder at the marketplace, seeing stairs high above her through the arched glass windows along the ceiling, while people walked around shopping, some sitting around at little tables outside shops and different stalls, talking.

"I'm in the future," she breathed as the Time Lords approached her, "Like…hundreds of years in the future," she looked at them, "I've been dead for centuries".

"Oh, lovely," the Doctor commented, rolling his eyes as the Hatter laughed, "You're a cheery one".

"Never mind the dead part," the Time Lady shook her head, still looking amused as she wrapped her arm around Amy's shoulders, guiding her past a couple of stalls, "Look around at this place. Doesn't it just seem…wrong?" she glanced back at the Doctor, who nodded in agreement.

"What's wrong?" Amy questioned, still staring around at everything.

"Come on, use your eyes," the Doctor encouraged, "Notice everything," he gestured around them, "What's wrong with this picture?"

"Is it…the bicycles?" she pointed to one as it wheeled past them, "Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles".

The Hatter raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh, and I suppose its common practise for people to get around in there nighties?"

Her eyes widened again, "Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, looking down at herself, looking embarrassed, "I'm in my nightie!"

"Could be worse," the Time Lady shrugged.

"How?"

She cast her an amused look, "Well, you could have ended up in the Medieval era wearing a bikini and beach sarong," her eyes came to rest on the Doctor, who was blushing.

"That was one time!" he shifted uncomfortably, "I…ah…got distracted," he coughed, looking away from them.

"Yeah, and because you got 'distracted,' we were arrested and I had a priest splash holy water on me, claiming that I was being possessed by the Devil. Oh, and might I mention that this was during our honeymoon?"

"It was an accident…"

"In the middle of winter, too, during a bloody snow storm!"

The Doctor winced, quickly trying to find a way to change the subject, because he could sense that if they didn't, then he was probably going to end up getting slapped, "Ah…something's wrong about this ship, remember?" he tried to remind her, spinning around to look at Amy, talking fast, "Now, come on, look around you," he told her, his eyes flickering to the blonde, who was giving him a narrowed eyed look, arms crossed, "Actually _look_ ".

"Nice move, Doctor," the Hatter muttered, eyeing him, "But don't think I've forgotten".

"London Market is a crime free zone," the speaker announced.

The Doctor shivered slightly at the Time Lady's words, pulling his eyes away from her, "Life on a giant starship," he looked around them as they paused, "Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps," they began moving again, "But look closer, secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state…"

"Hang on," the Hatter darted away from them over to where a couple were sitting at a small table, "Hello, do excuse me," she smiled at them and grabbed a glass of water off the table, sitting it on the ground.

"What are you doing?" the man at the table frowned.

The Doctor quickly joined her, kneeling on the ground beside her as they watched the water carefully, but the water simply stayed still, not even a ripple of movement. They exchanged a thoughtful look and he picked the glass up, sitting it back on the table.

"Sorry," he said to the couple, "Checking all the water in this area," he stood, helping the Hatter to stand, and leaning closer to the woman at the table, "There's an escaped fish," he tapped the side of his nose, and they turned back to Amy, "Where was I?"

"An escaped fish?" the Time Lady repeated, tilting her head, "Well, I suppose it works…kind of".

Amy frowned at them, "Why did you just do that with the water?"

"Oh, I was curious," the Hatter replied, shrugging, "I tend to do a lot of things and hope they make sense later. It's our code," she nodded to the Doctor.

"We think a lot," the Doctor added, "It's hard to keep track. Now, police state," he pointed at Amy, "Do you see it yet?"

"Where?" Amy looked back to the rest of the market.

"Right there," the Time Lady gestured over to were the little girl they had seen earlier was sitting by herself at a different bench, crying quietly, but still no one stopped to ask if she was okay, simply ignoring her.

They walked over to a bench a short distance away from the girl and sat down, watching her. The Hatter felt another pang of sympathy for the girl, her instincts telling her to try comforting her in some way, but she didn't want to frighten her any more then she obviously was.

"One little girl crying," Amy glanced at them, looking confused, "So?"

"Crying _silently_ ," the Doctor corrected her, taking the blonde's hand.

"You can tell a lot about a situation by the way a child cries, Amy," the Hatter informed her quietly, her eyes fixed on the girl, "Children will cry if they've been hurt or because they want attention, and if they're afraid, but they will make sure they are heard if that's the case," she looked over to the red head, sighing heavily, "But crying _silently_ …it's because they can't stop".

"Any parent knows that," he remarked.

Amy eyed them carefully, "Are you parents?"

The Doctor swallowed and looked away, his eyes lingering the Hatter for a moment. After losing Jenny, he had to admit that the thought of what might have been had crossed his mind more than once, of just what it might have been like for him and the Hatter to have a child together. When his children had been little, well before she ever had her own children, she would spend hours playing with them out in his garden, picking them up and spinning them around until they fell in a heap on the grass, the sound of their laughter still rang in his ears every time he thought of those times, he even remembered once finding the Hatter up a tree, helping his children to build a treehouse one warm afternoon. She had adored them and had practically treated them like her own, at times it was almost as if she only visited him because of his children.

He wouldn't have exactly called himself a natural parent, having spent much of their childhood finding it difficult to have the same closeness with them that he would have liked, finding it hard to distance his anger towards his wife, there mother. It was one of his deepest regrets that he had allowed his own feelings to get in the way of something so wonderful, and had tried so hard to make it up with Susan. He had wondered many times over the centuries what it would be like to share a child with the Hatter, he knew without a doubt that the Hatter would be beyond brilliant at it, and now that they were married…well, the thought seemed even more possible. What would he or she be like? Would it be more like him, like the Hatter, or a blend of them both? But even with those thoughts, also came the terror of what would happen if they lost another child? Losing Jenny had been bad enough, losing his and the Hatter losing her own children had almost destroyed them both, could he really _even_ think about having another child with both his and the Hatter's history? He knew one thing, the pain would utterly destroy him, and he didn't even want to think what it would do the Hatter.

The Hatter cleared her throat beside him, snapping him back to reality, "I…" she tried so smile, but it came out more of a sad grimace as she looked at Amy, clutching the Doctor's hand even tighter, "I had five children," she told her.

Amy's mouth fell open, staring at her in shock, " _Five_?" she exclaimed, "You don't look old enough!"

She laughed, though, it wasn't anywhere near as bright and cheerful as it usually would have been, "Oh, Amelia, you have no idea," she shook her head, "Two boys and three girls".

A frown crossed the red heads face, "You said 'had,'" she said slowly, her eyes widening in realisation.

"Yes," she agreed, but said nothing more.

"I'm so sorry," Amy awkwardly pattered her arm, obviously having no idea as to what to do. Her eyes drifted over to the Doctor, who still seemed to be off in his own thoughts, but before she could say anything more, the Time Lady shook her head.

"I was married to someone else then, and we've only shared one child," the Hatter whispered to her, not wanting to upset the Doctor more then she knew the question already had, "It's…a very difficult subject for him, I'm afraid," she cleared her throat again and raised her voice, her eyes roaming around the market, "You know, it's curious".

Amy looked at her, knowing she was trying to change the subject, "What's curious?"

"Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong," the Doctor answered, looking back to the little girl as he gave himself a sharp shake, "Which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about".

The Time Lady sighed, "Secrets, everything always comes back to secrets," she commented, shaking her, "And not one of these people have even tried helping her, so whatever it is, they're all afraid of it".

He nodded, "Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere," he continued, "Police state".

The Hatter frowned as she watched the girl jump up and hurrying over to a set of lifts, but as she watched, she spotted a booth with a smiling figure of a man sitting inside, seeming to be watching as she girl left. She nudged the Doctor's side, drawing his attention to the booth.

Amy looked back over to the bench, only to see it empty, "Where's she go?" she asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Deck two oh seven," the Doctor replied calmly, "Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A," Amy blinked at him, "You're looking for Mandy Tanner. Oh!" he reached inside his pocket, "…er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidently bumped into her…" he handed Amy the girl's colourful ID wallet, "Took me four goes".

"We really need to work on your thriving skills," the blonde cast him an amused look, "Four goes? It would have taken me one".

"Why didn't you do it, then?"

"Where would the fun be in that, sweetheart?" she laughed as he pouted before her laughter faded, spotting the booths again, "Oh, and Amy, ask her about those strange smiling figures in the booths," she gestured around them, catching sight of a couple of others ahead of them, "They seem to be all over the place".

Amy looked towards the booths, frowning, "But they're just things".

"They're clean," the Doctor pointed out to her, "Everything else here is all battered and filthy, look at this place, but no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. _Look_ ".

"And Mandy was afraid of them," the Hatter added, "She kept glancing at them while she was crying".

"Exactly," he clapped his hands and pointed at the blonde, who gave him a wink as he looked back to Amy, "Ask Mandy, 'why are people scared of the things in the booths?'"

"No, hang on!" Amy shook her head at them, "What do I do?" she practically hissed, "I don't know what I'm doing here, and I'm not even dressed!"

"It's this of Leadworth," he raised his eyebrows, "What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?" he tapped her shoulder and Amy huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, "Ha, ha, gotcha!" he checked his watch, "Meet us back here in half and hour".

"What are you two going to do?"

"What we always do," he glanced back at her, "Stay out of trouble".

The Hatter laughed, nudging his side as they stood, "Very badly, I might add".

"Very true," he nodded to her, and jumped over the bench they had been sitting on, while the Time Lady walked around the bench to join him, taking his hand.

"So is this how it works?" Amy called, standing and leaning over the bench as they spun back around to look at her, "You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?"

The Hatter raised her eyebrows at her, "Can you think of a better excuse?"

And with that, the Time Lords turned and strolled off, leaving Amy to her own task.

…

The Time Lords climbed down a ladder leading to the engine room of the ship. The Doctor jumped the last few steps and reached up, placing his hands on the Hatter's waist, and lifting her down, making her laugh.

"Well, you are certainly stronger then you look, sweetheart," she commented as she spun around in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He grinned at her, leaning forward and nuzzled her neck, "Hey, that tickles!" she laughed again and pulled away, rubbing the side of her neck.

"I know," he flashed her a sly look, but his tone sounded innocent.

She blushed and lightly smack his arm, "Enough of that," she scolded, giving him a stern look, "We've got things to do".

He sighed, "I know, dear".

She began to move towards the wall opposite the ladder, but paused, casting him a concerned look, "Are you okay?" she asked him gently, and he blinked at her, seeming confused, "I noticed what effect Amy's question about your children had on you".

"I'm fine…"

"And I also noticed the lingering look you gave me," she cut across him, giving him a look, "What was that all about? It was like…you were off in a world of your own".

The Doctor hesitated, seeming to be considering his words carefully, "I was just thinking...about what it would be like if we had a child".

The Hatter froze, her eyes widening slightly, "Oh," she murmured. She swallowed hard before meeting his eyes again, "Well…ah, the chances of ever conceiving a child are quite slim," she began, sounding as if she was talking to a class of students, "Time Lords have never been the most fertile of beings, hence one of the reasons why Looms were such a hit. You also have to put family history into account, my Mother had two miscarriages, and very nearly lost me several times. Then you also have to take in account lifestyle factors…"

"Hatter," he quickly held up his hands and her mouth snapped shut. He stepped closer and put his hands her shoulders, giving her a comforting look, "Calm down, don't start panicking, because you know it'll just make me panic…"

"I'm not panicking," she told him quickly, shaking her head, "I was just…a little…yeah, okay, maybe I was panicking slightly. We've never talked about it before, have we? Even after Jenny…" she took a deep breath, laughing slightly, "I mean, we've both been Grandparents and we're here, discussing children?"

"Time Lord families," he smiled slowly, "They can be very confusing".

"Oh, believe me, I know. Technically, you were my first cousin by marriage for a while, remember?" he cringed and she laughed again, "Ah, I see you do".

"And do you remember what I said to you when you tried to call me…" he made a disgusted face, as if someone had just feed him pears or a carrot, "…Cousin Doctor".

She laughed even harder to the point that she was leaning against him for support, "You threatened to never talk to me again!" she giggled, "It makes perfect sense now why you would have reacted so badly".

"You didn't seem to be very fond of it, either," he gave her another sly look.

"Oh, hush," she smiled, lightly hitting his arm again, "But in all seriousness…" she sighed, "Let's return to our previous topic later, shall we?"

"Later," he nodded quickly. They moved across the wall, touching it before leaning their ears against it, frowning, "Can't be," he reached inside his blazer.

The Hatter ran her hand up and down the wall, "No, that's not right at all…" she stepped back, staring at the wall in alarm, not feeling even a hum or vibration through the walls.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic, flashing it at the wall, before checking the results. The Time Lady leaned closer to him to see the results, too, when she noticed a glass of water sitting on the floor a short distance away from them. She nudged his side, catching his attention, and nodded over to it. Carefully, they moved closer to the glass, and the Doctor dropped to his knees before it, practically lying on his stomach so that he was eyelevel.

"The impossible truth in a glass of water," a woman's voice whispered, followed by footsteps. They both paused and looked over to see a woman in a red clock approaching them, her face covered by a white mask, and with black, curly hair framing her face, "Not many people see it," the Doctor jumped to his feet, grabbing the Hatter's hand as they eyed the woman, "But you do, don't you, Doctor and Hatter?"

The Hatter tilted her head curiously at her, "You know us?"

"Keep your voices down!" she hissed, glancing back behind her before looking back to them, "They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass".

"Who says we see anything?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, still eyeing her.

"Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look, "There isn't any engine vibrations on the deck," the Hatter explained after a moment, "Which simply isn't possible, because a ship this size, the engine it would need, you would be able to feel it," she gestured down towards the glass of water, "And the water would ripple".

"So, we thought we'd take a look," the Doctor continued, turning around and opening a power box, fiddling with the cut cables within, "It doesn't make sense," he frowned, glancing back to the woman, "These power couplings, they're not connected. Look," he opened another box, waving the useless cables within, "Look, they're dummies, see?"

"And check out this," the Hatter moved over to wall across from the power boxes, knocking on the wall, causing the sound to echo through the room, "It's hollow. Behind this wall, there's an empty space," she frowned, gesturing around, "In fact, I can only conclude that there is…"

"No engine at all," the Time Lords and the woman finished together.

The Doctor shook his head, "But it's working," he stepped closer to the woman, "This ship is travelling through space. We saw it".

"The impossible truth," the woman agreed in the same whispered voice, "We're travelling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly".

"But…how?" the Time Lady asked, strangely excited by the fact that she couldn't work out how it worked.

"I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor and Hatter. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her," she reached inside her cloak and handed the Doctor a small device with a blue screen. He took it, frowning slightly down at it, "Now go, quickly!" she turned and began walking away.

"Who are you?" the Doctor called after her, looking up from the device, "How do we find you again?"

The woman paused, looking back to them through the steam, "I am Liz Ten, and I will find you".

A loud crashing, rumbling sound echoed above the Time Lords heads, the lights flickering, and they looked up, only to find that the woman had vanished while they had been distracted.

"Liz Ten," the Hatter repeated thoughtfully, tilting her head, "No…it couldn't be…" she shook her head.

The Doctor glanced at her, raising his eyebrows, "What?"

She opened her mouth before pausing, shaking her head, "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing sweetheart".

He eyed her for a moment before looking back to the device in his hands, "Come on, then. Let's find Pond".

….

It didn't take long for the Time Lords to follow the blinking dot through the ship on the device that the strange woman had given them, until they ran into a small waiting room like area, where they spotted the girl, Mandy, who was sitting on a bench outside a door that had the words, 'occupied,' written across the top.

The Doctor grabbed his sonic out of his blazer and flashed it at the door, forcing it to slide open. The moment it was open, they darted inside to find Amy standing in front of a screen, looking almost afraid and tearful as her head snapped over to look at them.

"Amy, are you okay?" the Hatter cast her a concerned look, stepping closer to her as her eyes drifted over to the screen to see what appeared to be a recording of Amy, crying on the screen, like a video message of some kind, "What's…" she began, but Amy quickly turned off the recording, seeming to be avoiding their eyes.

The Doctor frowned slightly at her behaviour, "What have you done?" he asked her.

Amy looked back to the screen, her face growing confused, "I…I don't know," she told them, looking back over to them, her eyes widening, "I can't…I can't remember".

The Hatter gave her a comforting look and moved closer to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulders, exchanging a quick look with the Doctor as she did so, "Don't worry, we'll figure it out," she assured the red head, her eyes moving curiously to look at the blank screen.

The Doctor moved further into the room, hopping up onto a chair in front of the screen, and began scanning a lit lamp hanging just above his head with his sonic, quickly checking the results, "Yeah, your basic memory wipe job," he remarked, slipping the sonic inside his blazer again, "Must have erased about twenty minutes," he jumped off the chair, moving closer to examine the screen.

"But why would I chose to forget?" Amy questioned, still looking confused, but seemed to have calmed slightly.

"Because everyone does," Mandy informed them from the doorway, making them focus their attention on her, "Everyone choses the forget button".

The Doctor walked back over towards the door, leaning towards her, "Did you?"

The Hatter coughed and stepped over to him, grabbing his arm, "She's a child, Doctor," she reminded him pointedly, glancing back to the girl, "I would say about…twelve?" Many nodded and she gave her a smile, before looking back to the Doctor, "A child couldn't possibly vote," she shook her head.

Mandy nodded to her, "Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to see the film and make your choice," she explained, shrugging, "And then once every five years…"

"And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned," the Doctor straightened, sighing as he exchanged a look with the Time Lady, "Democracy in action".

"Oh, I do hate politics," the Time Lady commented, making a face. She had always tried to avoid getting involved in politics if she could, but sadly, she just seemed to keep ending up in political situations, "And to think, half my family were politicians, it really makes it a lot clearer just why we didn't get along".

"What about Romana?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, glancing at her, looking amused.

She tilted her head, "True, she was certainly involved in politics…it would be rather hard for her not to be, seeing as she was the Madam President," she shrugged, "But Romana was different. We were friends well before any of that, and I even encouraged and helped her. Romana truly wanted to help make Gallifrey better, and if anyone could have done so, it would have been her," she sighed sadly, "I only wish things could have been different, her final years in office were extremely hard, but then again, those years were hard on us all".

The Doctor took her hand, giving it a squeeze, and lightly kissed it, making her smile fondly at him. They turned back to the screen, examining it as Amy watched them curiously.

"How do you not know about this?" Mandy asked, frowning at them, obviously referring to their previous conversation before the Time Lords had been distracted, "Are you Scottish too?" she eyed them, taking note of the Time Lady's accent.

"Oh, we're way worse than Scottish," the Doctor replied, grinning as he glanced over to her, "We can't even see the movie," he pointed to the screen, "Won't play for us".

"It played for me," Amy commented, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ah, yes," the Hatter nodded, flashing her a smile and a wink, "But the computer doesn't register us as humans".

"Why not?" she asked, and they looked back to her. She blinked, "You look human".

"No, you look Time Lord," the Doctor shook his head, pointing at her as she moved closer to them, "We came _first_ ".

The Time Lady rolled her eyes, "And don't think that didn't help with their superiority complex," she added.

Amy leaned closer to them, looking eager, "So there are other Time Lords, yeah?"

The Hatter winced, holding the Doctor's hand tighter as he looked away from Amy, "Not anymore," she told her quietly, "There once was, but now…" she swallowed, "You know how I mentioned my children, well…" she trailed off, looking back to the screen, unable to get the words out.

"It's just us now," the Doctor continued grimly, pulling her closer to him as he looked over to Amy, "Long story," he sighed heavily, "There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened, and you know what?" he shook his head, "I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I…we don't".

"Not one second of it," the Time Lady agreed, her voice sounding determined, still not looking away from the screen. As much as she would love to forget the War, she couldn't. That time of her life, or though she might not like to think about it, was what had led her to the woman she was now, and forgetting it would change her. After all, people were a sum of their memories, even more so for Time Lords, and for her to forget the Time War, it would also mean she would forget what happened to her children and grandchild, and that was something that she would never ever do, no matter how much pain it might cause.

He squeezed her hand again, giving her a comforting smile, already knowing where her thoughts had gone, "Because this is what we do, every time, every day, every second," he looked back to Amy as she stared at them. He gestured to the screen, "This," he began smiling again, "Hold tight. We're bringing down the government".

"So, basically, it's just an ordinary day for us," the Hatter remarked, trying to sound more like her normal, cheerful self, and gave Amy a wink.

He laughed in agreement and pounded his hand down onto the 'protest' button before them. The door slammed shut, sealing them inside, while locking Mandy outside as the smiling figure in the booth across the room from them head turned, showing a quite angry face. The Time Lords stepped back, grabbing Amy, and pulled her back into the corner of the room as the floor began sliding open to reveal a very deep drop, lit by a bright red light.

"Say, 'wheee!'" the Doctor called to Amy, grinning as the Hatter was caught between laughing and feeling nervous of just what they might find at the bottom of the drop.

Amy screamed, her eyes widening as the floor slid from underneath them, and they fell down the drop. Luckily, the drop ended relatively quickly, and they found themselves falling out of a pipe and into a large, smelly, darkened room with some sort of thick, slimy liquid floating on the floor, seeming to be chunks of food.

The Doctor landed first, quickly finding himself practically lying on his back in the substance, and rolled out of the way, just as the Hatter landed right where he had been, her hat flying off as she, too, was covered head to toe.

"Oh, this is…" she gasped as she struggled to pull herself to her feet, almost losing her balance once more, but the Doctor grabbed her arm, steading her, just as Amy landed close to them with a scream, before pulling his sonic out of his blazer, flashing it around the room, "I don't even have the words to describe how much I want a shower right now," she groaned, looking disgusted as she forcefully pushed her soaking fridge out of her eyes, trying to look around for her hat.

"High speed air cannon," the Doctor commented, not seeming as bothered by the situation as the girls, glancing down at Amy, who was staring down at herself, looking even more disgusted then the Hatter, "Lousy way to travel".

Amy picked up a chuck of the substance, eyeing it, "Where are we?"

"Ah!" the Hatter cheered happily as she located her hat. She hesitated, eying the less then pleasant state it was now in, before shrugging and putting it on, seeing as it really didn't make any difference now with the state she was in, either, "We're about six hundred feet down, twenty miles laterally," she told Amy, moving over to her to help her up, "Which, of course, puts us as the heart of the ship," she sniffed the air, grimacing at the smell, "…and I would say Lancashire".

"What's this, then, a cave?" the Doctor wonder aloud, looking around, shaking his head, "Can't be a cave," he flashed the sonic around, "Looks like a cave".

Amy scrunched up her face in disgust as she grabbed another piece of the substance, "It's a rubbish dump," she chucked the piece at the Doctor, hitting his back, "And it's minging!" she exclaimed.

The Time Lady glanced around the room, "Yes, it certainly is unpleasant," she agreed, "But it seems to be only food refuse".

The Doctor dropped to his knees on the ground, picking up a chunk, and sniffing it as Amy fell beside him, "Organic," he looked back up to see a few more tunnels like the one they had entered via around the room, "Coming through feeder tubes from all over the ship".

"Doctor," the Hatter eyed him carefully, joining them on the ground, "I swear, if you even think about licking anything inside this room, I am never kissing you again".

He gave her a startled look, immediately dropping the chunk, "You wouldn't…" he paused, suddenly looking unsure, "… _would_ you?"

"Sweetheart, I _promise_ ".

He swallowed and nodded quickly, looking alarmed by the very idea.

Amy tossed chunks of food off the floor behind her back, "The floor's all squidgy, like a water bed," she remarked, touching the ground.

The Hatter sighed, looking back up to the feeding tubes, "I wonder just what they're feeding".

"It's sort of rubbery, feel it. Wet and slimy".

A distant, animal like-moan sounded behind them, and the Time Lords quickly struggled back on to the feet, exchanging a look as they spun around to look where the sound had come from. Their eyes widened, realising just where they were.

"Eh…" the Doctor glanced down at Amy, "It's not a floor, it's a…eh…" he slipped the sonic away as the Hatter closed her eyes, "So…" he began slowly.

Amy stood, "It's a what?" she asked, looking in-between them.

The Hatter opened her eyes, trying to look comforting, "Now, Amy, what we're going to tell you is quite a scary word," she said to her, keeping her voice calm as she pattered her arm, glancing at the Doctor, "Just…ah, take a moment to calm yourself. You know, happy thoughts. Imagine you're on a beach or something".

"Go 'omm,'" the Doctor instructed her, also trying to look calm.

She frowned at them, "Omm…"

"It's a tongue," the Time Lady said to her quickly, eyeing her reaction closely.

"A tongue?" she repeated, freezing.

"A tongue!" the Doctor nodded, getting excited as the Hatter couldn't help but agree with him, despite her previous disgust, it really was quite brilliant, "A great big tongue!"

"This is a mouth," she breathed, staring around, stunned, "This _whole_ place is a _mouth_? We're in a _mouth_?" she whirled around.

"Yes, yes, yes," he grinned, quickly going on when he noticed her less than happy expression, "But on the plus side, roomy".

"Just…ignore the horrible taste in deco," the Hatter added brightly, trying to calm Amy with humour, though, she suspected it wouldn't work very well.

"How do we get out?" Amy demanded.

The Doctor grabbed his sonic again, flashing it around, "How big is this beastie?" he moved away, still scanning, "It's gorgeous!" he turned back to them, growing even more excited, "Blimey, if this is just the mouth, I'd love to see the stomach," another groaning sound echoed through the space and he whirled around, looking alarmed, "Though, not right now," he quickly said.

The Time Lady grabbed his arm, pulling him back over to them, "Please, just stop talking," she sighed heavily, casting a wary look around the mouth, "Don't listen to him!" she called, hoping the creature was listening…and actually understood what she was saying, "He's…an idiot".

"Hey!" he yelped, sending her a mock offended look.

She shrugged, giving him a fond smile, "But you are _my_ idiot," he grinned broadly, looking smug, "…but that doesn't mean you should keep talking, or make it any less true," she finished, giving him a stern look.

"Oi, flirting later!" Amy called to them, looking annoyed as she pointed at them, "How do we get out?" she questioned again.

The Doctor blinked at her, "I forgot what it was like to have a companion around while we are together," he commented, glancing at the Hatter.

The Time Lady tilted her head, "I seem to recall our companions telling us off before we ever got together, too," she reminded him, recalling several times that there distraction with each other had caused there companions to get annoyed. She shook her head, sending Amy an apologetic look.

He cleared his throat, waving his sonic around the mouth again, "Okay, it's being fed through surgically implanted feeding tubes, so the normal entrance is…" they turned around to find a row of very large, pointed teeth ahead of them, closed, "…closed for business," he finished slowly.

The Hatter groaned slightly, "Well, that's wonderful," she commented, eyeing the teeth.

"We could try, though," Amy stepped forward, looking determined.

"No, stop!" the Time Lords shouted, trying to stop her as a loud groan echoed through the mouth again, and the entire tongue began shaking beneath them, "Don't move!"

The tongue continued shaking, seeming to be heaving.

"It's too late!" the Hatter called, shaking her head, yelping as she lost her balance, quickly finding herself landing on her back. The Doctor and Amy joined her a moment later, splashing around, "It's started!" she grimaced, pulling her hat off, and stuffed it inside her soaking coat, just so she wouldn't lose it.

"What has?" Amy gasped.

"Swallow reflex!" the Doctor answered loudly.

They slipped and splashed around as they felt themselves beginning to fall backwards as the tongue moved. The Doctor tried sonicing the walls of the mouth frantically.

"What are you doing?" Amy shouted, seeing what he was doing.

"I've vibrating the chemo-receptors!"

"Cemo-what?"

"In other words, the eject button!" the Hatter told her, hoping she wouldn't ask just what that was.

"How does a mouth have an eject button?"

"Think about it!" the Doctor called to her.

Another groan echoed through the mouth. They struggled to their knees, looking back down towards the throat to see a large wave of bile rolling towards them.

"Right, then!" he grabbed the Hatter's hand, who swallowed, eyeing the wave, and he straightened his bow tie, "This isn't going to be big on dignity!" the wave came closer, "Geronimo!"

Amy screamed as a loud grunt sounded through the mouth, and the wave crashed down upon them.

 _ **Don't read too much into that talk about kids, I just figure that it would be a natural thing to come up at some point, and when better than during an adventure that's so connected to kids? Still, poor Hatter, I think that was the last thing she was expecting to hear, and it's not very often that happens.**_

 _ **Next chapter, what reaction will the Time Lords have to the Star Whale? The Doctor finds out something about the Hatter he didn't know, and the Hatter fears developing an ego the size of the Doctor's. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **Aw, thank you so much, and I'm so happy that you like the stories. I'm not sure if I would pick the Hatter to be on the show, she can be a little distracting to the Doctor at times, but I definitely think the show needs more Time Ladies. Romana was brilliant, the Rani was even smarter than the Master and the Doctor, which made her all the more fun to watch, and Susan (though, I admit she was little annoying with all the screaming), had so much potential.**_

 _ **One day, perhaps. The lack of jealousy I think is a very pronounced trait in this regeneration, probably more so then her other regenerations. I think that, like she's said, being a Time Lady jealousy is slightly different for her anyway, but that doesn't mean that in another regeneration she wouldn't get a little annoyed with woman flirting with the Doctor, so there is every possibility that she might get jealous in another regeneration, just don't expect her to turn into the type of woman who gets really jealous. That's really not her style at all.**_

 _ **Ooh, she wouldn't react very well, not at first. If the Doctor did turn out to be the Other, then she would be very hurt and betrayed that he never told her, and I think she would feel the need to take some time away from him, maybe go off and spend some time with Sarah Jane, just so that she could have some time to calm down and think. But, eventually, thing's would get back to normal, and I could see her teasing him worse than ever about how old he is, about being a cradle robber, that sort of thing. I almost regret him not being the Other in this story just thinking about it. Thanks for the review :)**_


	4. Chapter 4 The Beast Below, Part 2

_**The Beast Below, Part 2.**_

Slowly, Amy coughed herself awake, blinking as she found herself lying on her back on the hard, concrete ground in some sort of tunnel. A moment past and the Hatter appeared at her side with her hat sitting on her head, the rim of it flopping onto her forehead, while her hair was soaking and caked together as it hung limply around her face.

"Easy, now," she smiled at her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "Nothing broken, and there's no sign of concussion".

"And yes," the Doctor's voice came from behind them, and she looked over to see him standing by a metal door, holding his sonic screwdriver, looking just as bad as the girls, "You are covered in sick," he finished, almost sounding cheerful.

Amy glanced around the tunnel-like space, "Where are we?" she asked, breathing a little heaver then normal.

The Hatter glanced around the tunnel, "We think it's an overspill pipe," she informed her, grabbing her hand, and helping her to stand.

Once she was standing, she grimaced, "Oh, God, it stinks!" she exclaimed in disgust.

"Oh, that's not the pipe," the Doctor remarked, turning back to the door, flashing his sonic at it.

"Oh…" she looked down at herself, her clothing covered in slimy, yellow substance, and sniffed, "Phew!" she gasped, looking even more disgusted as the Time Lady cast her a look between amusement and understanding, "Can we get out now?"

"One door, one switch, one condition," he replied, turning around to face them, just as a light beside the door lit up, revealing the 'forget' button, "We forget everything we saw. Look familiar?" he raised his eyebrows, "That's the carrot…" the lights came on, lighting up two booths with smiling figures sitting inside them at the end of the tunnel behind them, "Ooh, here's the stick".

"Hello, there," the Hatter strolled down the tunnel towards the booths, and the Doctor quickly caught up with her, grabbing her hand, "Now, we want answers," her tone turned determined, "There's a creature that's living at the heart of this very ship, and we want to know what it's doing there?"

The figures heads turned around, there smiles vanishing, and they were replaced with frowns.

"No," the Doctor shook his head at them, "That's not going to work on us, so come on! Big old beast below decks, and everyone protests gets shoved down its throat," he eyed them, "That how it works?"

The heads turned again, this time turning angry, teeth bared, and with red eyes.

"Oh, stop it," the Time Lady frowned at them, pointing a finger at them, "Those faces might scare the locals but we've faced far worse," she gave them a stubborn look, "We are _not_ leavingand we are certainly _not_ going to forget, either".

The Doctor gave them an almost mocking look, "And what are you fellows going to do about it?" he raised his eyebrows again, "Stick out your tongues, huh?"

The front of the booths swung open and the figures stood, stepping out. Amy gasped, and they quickly began backing down the tunnel.

"Okay, it's official," the Hatter groaned, eyeing the figures as they neared them, holding the Doctor's hand tighter, "We should never open our mouths again. It just makes everything worse".

Amy swallowed, looking fearfully over to the Time Lords, "Got any ideas?"

The Time Lords looked at each other blankly, when the door behind them suddenly swung open, and the woman in the red cloak entered, her face uncovered. Amy gasped as the woman held up a gun, forcing them to duck out of the way, just as she fired at the figures. The figures sparked and fell face first onto the ground, and the woman twirled her gun around her finger, before sticking it back in her holster strapped to her leg.

"Look who it is," the Doctor nodded to the woman, looking relieved.

The Hatter smiled at the woman, "By the way, it's nice to finally see you without the mask," she remarked, gesturing to her own face, shaking her head, "It always puts me on edge when someone wears a mask, it makes me wonder just what else they might be hiding," she finished, casting her a slightly narrowed eyed look.

The woman turned around and smiled, "You must be Amy," she walked over to Amy, holding out her hand, "Liz, Liz Ten".

"Hi," Amy took her hand, shaking it, still looking a little stunned from there encounter with the figures.

"Yuck!" Liz grimaced, letting go of Amy's hand almost at once, and wiping it against her cloak, "Lovely hair, Amy," she glanced down at the Time Lady's shoes, "And nice boots. Shame about the sick," she walked back over to the door where Mandy was standing, "You know Mandy, yeah?" she wrapped an arm around her, smiling up at them, "She's very brave".

"How did you find us?" the Doctor asked, eyeing Liz.

"Oh, let me guess," the Hatter smiled slowly, raising an eyebrow at Liz, "The tracking device you gave us to find Amy?"

Liz smirked at her, "Ooh, I knew you were good," she commented, reaching inside her cloak, and pulling out her own device, tossing it to the Doctor, "Been listening in," she explained, watching as the Time Lords looked down at her device, "Nice moves on the hurl escape. So, what's the big fella doing here?"

"You're over sixteen, you've voted," the Doctor looked back up to her, "Whatever this is, you've chosen to forget".

"No," she replied, shaking her head, "Never forgot, never voted, not technically a British subject".

He frowned at her, not noticing the Hatter breaking into a grin, "Then who and what are you, and how do you know us?" he questioned.

"Isn't it obvious, sweetheart?" the Hatter glanced at him, still grinning.

"You know who she is?" he blinked, looking at her in surprise, though, he supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised at all.

"You're a bit hard to miss, you two," Liz laughed slightly as the blonde rolled her eyes at the Doctor, "Mysterious strangers, MO consistent with higher intelligence…" the Doctor looked smug, nudging the Time Lady's side, "…hair of an idiot…" his smug look faded and he pointed at her, almost as if he was going to argue, before changing his mind and running a hand through his soaking hair, "…and the clever woman with the hat," she smiled at the Hatter, almost looking fond, "I've been brought up on the stories," she glanced at Amy, seeming excited, "My whole family was".

"You're family?" the Doctor frowned at her again.

Liz went to answer, but the robots behind them suddenly began moving, "They're repairing," she nodded over to them, any fondness or excitement that she had shown before vanishing, "Doesn't take them long. Let's move," she hurried out of the tunnel, back through the door, and the Time Lords grabbed Amy, following after Mandy as Liz began leading them through the basement levels of the ship, "The Doctor and the Hatter," she remarked, glancing back at them, "You were an old drinking buddy of Henry Twelve, and the Hatter taught him the waltz. Tea and scones with Liz Two," she smirked, her eyes drifting over to the Doctor, "Vicky was a bit on the fence about you, weren't she? Knighted and exiled on the same day, but she loved the Hatter".

"You never told me you knew Queen Victoria?" the Doctor's head snapped around to look at the blonde, giving her an almost accusing look.

"Well, I knew her before she was ever a _Queen_ ," the Hatter shrugged, patting his arm soothingly, looking slightly amused by his reaction, "I knew her when she was only a kid. I was her governess for a little while when I was in my Seventh regeneration after I discovered that her governess at the time was actually planning to destroy history by making sure Vicky would never live to be Queen, and I stuck around for a bit until a new governess could be found," she smiled, "Well, I had nothing better to do, and Vicky did love my stories".

Liz laughed, and nudged the Time Lord's sides, "And so much for the Virgin Queen," she commented, casting them a raised eyebrow look, "I bet that was strange seeing your husband marry another woman," she glanced at the Time Lady, "And you even asked to be her bridesmaid, didn't you?"

"It wasn't a real wedding, and I do admit that watching the Doctor squirm was simply too good to pass up," she grinned cheekily as the Doctor grumbled something under his breath, "But I am curious, how long did it take before Lizzie worked out we had been a couple all along?" she asked, tilting her head as she seemed to struggle to recall the details of that adventures, "I mean, we were hardly hiding our relationship, it was just that when she asked if we were married, I happened to chock on a mouthful of wine," she made a face, sticking out her tongue like a child, "I hate wine".

"But…wait," the Doctor's eyes widened, staring at Liz as he finally worked it out, "Liz Ten!"

"I knew you would get there in the end, sweetheart," the Hatter laughed fondly, and linked her arm through his.

"Liz Ten, yeah," Liz nodded, "Elizabeth the Tenth. And down!" she suddenly shouted and whirled around, and they ducked as she began firing her guns at one of the smiling robots that had apparently been following them. She grinned as the robots collapsed and looked down at the Time Lords and Amy, "I'm the bloody Queen, mate," she said proudly, "Basically, I rule," she slipped the guns back into their holsters.

The Time Lady blinked, actually looking slightly impressed, "Indeed, you are," she agreed quietly, exchanging a look with the Doctor.

They continued making their way through the basement, following Liz as she led them along a corridor, heading towards a lift, "There's a high-speed Vator through here…" Liz began, but the Time Lords stopped suddenly, catching sight of a caged off area along the corridor where large tentacle-like things were sticking out of the ground, banging violently against the walls and bares of the cage. They moved closer to the cages, the Hatter's wide as she stared at the tentacles, "Oh, yeah," Liz commented, seeing what had caught there attention, "There's these things. Any ideas?"

The Time Lady swallowed thickly, feeling her eyes beginning to fill up with tears as she glanced at the Doctor to see the same pained look on his face. It broke her hearts, hearing the agonising cries as the creature screamed, and she quickly moved closer to the Doctor, who pulled his arm out of hers, and wrapped it around her waist, instead.

"I saw one of these up top," Amy told them, eyeing the tentacles as the Doctor grabbed his sonic, flashing it at them, "There was a hole in the road, like it had burst through, like a root".

"Exactly like a root," the Doctor nodded, checking the results.

"It's the same creature that we found ourselves inside," the Hatter added grimly, her voice sounding slightly strained, trying to hold back tears as she kept her head turned away from the humans, "It's all one creature," she swallowed again, "Reaching out…"

"It must be growing through the mechanisms of the entire ship," he continued, seeing that the blonde couldn't go on.

"What, like an infestation?" Liz looked at them sharply, and they nodded, "Someone's helping it," she narrowed her eyes, looking back to the tentacles, " _Feeding_ it. Feeding _my_ subjects to it," she turned away with Mandy and began marching up to the corridor, sounding angry, "Come on! Got to keep moving".

"Oh, you poor thing," the Time Lady breathed, placing a hand against the bars as tears began trickling down her cheeks, "I am so, so sorry".

Amy moved to follow Liz and Mandy, but paused when she noticed the Time Lords hadn't moved, "Doctor, Hatter?" she stepped closer to them, looking concerned.

"Oh, Amy," the Doctor murmured, glancing at her, pulling the Hatter closer to him, "We should never have come here".

The Hatter quickly wiped her cheeks with her hand as she and the Doctor moved past Amy, following after Liz and Mandy.

…

Once Liz had led them to her own privet apartment, the Time Lords and Amy were finally given a chance to clean themselves up a bit. Even the Hatter's hat was back to its clean, non-floppy self, much to her delight, since it had really began to annoy her having to push it off her forehead. On the floor of Liz's room, glasses full of water had been scattered all around, and the Doctor carefully walked through them, trying hard not to knock or step on any, while the Hatter watched from off to the side, leaning against the bedpost of the large, four-poster bed.

"Why all the glasses?" he asked, looking across to the bed, where Liz was lying on top of the covers.

"To remind me every single day that my government is up to something," Liz replied, sounding determined, "And it's my duty to find out what".

The Hatter smiled over to her, "I like you," she remarked, stepping over to where Liz had left the mask that she had been wearing earlier, picking it up, and turning it over in her hands, "Interesting," she held the mask up and the Doctor joined her, "So, the queen has been going undercover to investigate her own Kingdome?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Secrets are being kept from me," she sat up on the bed, frowning, "I don't have a choice. Ten years I've been at this. My entire reign," she informed them, "And you're archiving more in one afternoon".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, glancing down at the mask in the Hatter's hands, "How old were you when you came to the throne?" they questioned.

"Forty," she shrugged, "Why?"

Amy turned around from where she had been standing before a mirror in the corner of the room, putting her clean hair up, "What, you're fifty now?" she stared at Liz, "No way!" she and Mandy moved over to a chair at the end of the bed, and sat down.

Liz smiled, "Yeah, they slowed my body clock," she held her head slightly higher, "Keeps me looking like the stamps".

The Time Lords sat on the edge of the bed beside Liz, "And you always wear this in public?" the Doctor nodded over to the mask.

"Undercover's not easy when you're me. The autographs, the bunting…"

The Hatter ran her fingers across the cheek of the mask, examining it, "Its air-balanced porcelain," she assessed, and held up the mask towards Liz's face, looking thoughtful, "It doesn't need a string or a ribbon to hold it on, because it's perfectly sculpted to your face".

"Yeah…" Liz frowned at her, looking confused, "So what?"

"Oh, Liz," the Doctor sighed, giving her a look, "So _everything_ ".

Suddenly, the door opened and several men, dressed in black hooded robes entered. The Time Lords jumped off the bed, stepping closer to them as they eyed the men carefully.

"What are you doing?" Liz demanded, looking outraged by their interruption, "How dare you come in here?"

"Ma'am, you have expressed interest in the interior workings of Starship UK," one of the hooded men, apparently the leader, said calmly, "You will come with us now".

She got off the bed and walked closer to the men, "Why would I do that?" she raised her eyebrows.

The man's head turned to reveal an angry Smiler face, and the other men's heads turned to show the same thing. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look, smiling slightly.

"How can they be Smilers?" Amy gasped behind them.

"Half human, half Smiler," the Doctor remarked.

The Hatter's smile faded, sighing slightly as she eyed the men, a mixture of concern and anger entering her tone, "I do hope they knew what was going to happen to them beforehand".

Liz moved closer to the leader, looking angry, "Whatever you creatures are, I am still your queen," she narrowed her eyes, "On whose authority is this done?"

"The highest authority, Ma'am," the leader responded.

"I _am_ the highest authority!"

"Yes, Ma'am. You must go now, Ma'am".

"Where?"

"The Tower, Ma'am".

….

The Tower was almost like a strange mix between the Medieval era, with the stone walls and floors, meets the twenty first century and beyond with the amount of technology that was scattered all over the place, and in the middle of the room, a rounded, fenced off area was with a piece of machinery above it, shooting bright blue energy pulse into some sort of hole. As the Time Lords cast their eyes around, they noticed grating that seemed to be covering more of the tentacles, flying around violently, just as the ones that they had seen in the cages had done.

Amy, catching sight of the grating, leaned closer to look down through to the creature, "Doctor, Hatter, where are we?" she asked, not looking up.

"The lowest part of Starship UK," the Doctor replied, twirling around with his arms out, "The dungeon".

"Lovely place," the Hatter remarked in a false, cheerful tone, moving closer to the fenced off area, dreading just what she might find.

"Ma'am," an older men in a hooded robe called, pulling back to hood as he stepped forward, looking at Liz.

"Hawthorne!" Liz exclaimed, her eyes widening as she eyed him, "So _this_ is where you hid yourself," she grew angry again, stepping closer to him as he bowed his head, "I think you've got some explaining to do".

"Hang on…" the Time Lady cut in, moving back over to Liz and Hawthorne, frowning deeply as she caught sight of a group of children in the room, some walking past her, "These children, why are they here?" she asked, not in the slightest bit pleased, "And where are they're parents?"

"Protesters and citizens of limited value are fed to the beast," Hawthorne explained, and the Hatter stepped closer to him, her temper flaring, but the Doctor quickly grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards him, actually feeling a little worried for the man. Though, he couldn't help but agree with her anger, "For some reason, it won't eat the children," he continued, watching the children pass them, before glancing at the Time Lord's, "You're the first adults it's spared. You're very lucky".

"Yeah, look at us," the Doctor commented, not happy, either, "Torture chamber of the Tower of London. Lucky, lucky, lucky," he and the blonde began to move around the room, "Except it's not a torture chamber, is it?" he glanced back to the man.

"It most certainly _is_ ," the Hatter shook her head, still not pleased after what the man had said about the children, let alone just what else was going on, "But, then again, I suppose it depends on the person," she shot Hawthorne a dark look.

They moved over towards the fenced off area, looking down to see a large, pink lump sitting inside the hole, pulsating.

Liz stared down at the lump, "What's that?" she asked, sounding slightly disgusted.

"Like the Hatter said, it depends on the person," the Doctor began, a cold edge entering his tone, looking across to Liz as Amy and Mandy joined them to see for themselves, "It's either the exposed pain centre of big fella's brain, being tortured relentlessly…"

She swallowed, "Or?"

The Hatter closed her eyes, forcing herself to take a couple of deep breaths, just trying to stop herself from losing her temper…not to mention the nauseating feeling just thinking about what the poor creature had been put through, "Or…it's the gas pedal," she opened her eyes, meeting Liz's, "In other words, the accelerator".

"Starship UK's go faster button," the Doctor added, trying to keep his own temper in check, grabbing the Time Lady's hand in an attempt to keep them both calm, though, he doubt it would help much.

"I don't understand," Liz shook her head, frowning.

"Don't you?" he raised his eyebrows, "Try to, go on," they moved around the edge of the hole towards her, "The spaceship that could never fly".

"Remember, there isn't any vibrations," the Time Lady reminded her, "The engine room that's basically just for show, and then _this_ ," she gestured towards the brain in the hole, her tone turning angry again, "Do you see that? That's the brain of a trapped, terrified creature, and you think that it's an infestation?" she laughed hollowly, shaking her head in disgust.

"It's not infesting you, it's not invading…" the Doctor went on, "It's what you have instead of an engine," he gestured around the room and up to the machine still shooting an energy pulse into the brain, "And this place down here is where you _hurt_ it, where you _torture_ it, day after day, just to keep it moving".

"Show them, Doctor," the Hatter told him, swallowing painfully, looking at him, "They won't understand unless they hear what we can".

The Doctor meet her eyes, exchanging an understanding look. It might have been a cruel thing to force upon them, but it wasn't even close to the cruelty inflected on the creature. He walked over to one of the grates, reaching inside his blazer for his sonic screwdriver, "Normally, it's above the range of human hearing," he explained to the others as he grabbed the edge of the grate, pulled it up, and off to the side. Almost at once, the tentacle broke free, moving around violently, "This is the sound none of you wanted to hear," he pointed the sonic at the tentacle.

A terrible, agonising scream echoed through the entire room, and all the humans flinched, covering their own ears, looking horrified.

"Stop it," Liz practically begged after a moment, waving her hand around. He turned off the sonic and she turned to look at Hawthorne, "Who did this?" she demanded.

"We act on instructions from the highest authority," Hawthorne informed her.

" _I am_ the highest authority. The creature will be released, now," she ordered, but the man smiled, slightly sadly, "I said now!" still, no one moved, and the Time Lords exchanged a look, "Is anyone listening to me?"

"Liz," the Hatter called to her, catching her attention, pulling her mask from out of her pocket, "Think about your mask".

She frowned at her, looking confused, "What about my mask?"

The Hatter tossed it to her, and she caught it, "Look at it," the Doctor nodded to it in her hands, moving around towards her, "It's old. At least two hundred years, I'd say".

"Yeah?" she shrugged, still not understanding what they meant, "It's an antique. _So_?"

"Well, whoever crafted it was certainly talented," the Time Lady commented, raising her eyebrows, "I mean, they even managed to sculpt it _perfectly_ to your face _two hundred_ years ago," Liz frowned again, "You said they slowed your body clock," she continued, giving her an almost sympathetic look, "But you're not fifty years old, you simply can't be".

"Nearer three hundred," the Doctor added, "And it's been a long old reign".

She stared at them before shaking her head, "Nah, its ten years," she insisted, "I've been on the throne _ten_ years".

"Ten years," he agreed, nodding, "And the same ten years, over and over again, always…" he grabbed her hand and pulled her around to voting area just behind them, Amy, the Hatter, and Mandy following, "…leading you…here," he clicked his fingers, pointing down to two buttons. 'Forget' and 'Abdicate'.

Liz looked at the buttons for a long moment before looking back up to Hawthorne, horrified, "What have you done?" she breathed.

"Only what you have ordered," Hawthorne replied calmly, giving her a small smile, "We work for you, Ma'am. The Winders, the Smilers, all of us," he reached across and pressed a button on top of the voting screen, and a recording of Liz popped up on the screen.

"If you are watching this…" the recording began as they watched, "If _I_ am watching this, then I have found my way to the Tower of London," Liz sat down in the chair before the screen as a diagram of a large, almost squid-like creature appeared over the recording, "The creature you are looking at is called a Star Whale. Once, there was millions of them. They lived in the depths of space and, according to legend, guided the early space travellers through the asteroid belts," the recording of Liz popped up again, replacing the diagram, "This one, as far as we are aware, is the last of its kind…"

The Hatter took the Doctor's hand, holding it tightly.

"…and what we have done to it breaks my heart," the recording continued, growing almost tearful, "The Earth was burning. Our sun had turned on us and every other nation had fled to the skies. Our children screamed as the skies grew hotter. And then it came…like a miracle. The last of the Star Whales," the Hatter swallowed, looking down. The similarities between herself and the Doctor with the Star Whale, truly was quite striking. The recording sniffed, "We trapped it, we built our ship around it, and we rode on its back to safety. If you wish our voyage to continue, then press the forget button," Liz looked down towards the button before her, "Be again the heart of this nation, untainted. If not, press the other button," she looked across to the second button, "Your reign will end, the Star Whale will be released, and our ship will disintegrate. I hope I keep the strength to make the right decision".

The recording ended.

"I voted for this," Amy gasped, looking completely mortified as she looked over to the Time Lords, "Why would I do that?"

The Hatter sighed, shaking her head sadly, "Because you knew just what a moral dilemma us staying would cause us," she swallowed thickly again, looking down, "The impossible choice".

"Humanity or the alien," the Doctor went on grimly, looking across to her, "You took it upon yourself to save us from that. And that was wrong," he looked away from her, his face growing hard with anger, "You don't _ever_ decide what we need to know".

"I don't even remember doing it!"

"You did it. That's what counts".

Amy's eyes widened, staring at them, "I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Oh, I don't care," he cut her off quickly, practically sneering at her as the Hatter winced at his tone, "When we're done, you're going home," he turned and walked away from her.

She swallowed and looked at the Time Lady, "Hatter?" she asked carefully, not wanting another repeat of what the Doctor had just done, but she had to try, and she could already tell that if anyone could talk to the Doctor, it would be her.

The Hatter hesitated before giving her small, gentle smile, "I'm sorry, Amelia," she said quietly to her, patting her arm, "But…" she sighed heavily, dropping her hand back to her side sadly, "He does have a point. Trying to protect us, while touching, is something that you should never try to do. Our life is far too dangerous for that, and to much is at stake," she meet her eyes, "People's lives are at risk, and _that_ alone is on our hands," she began to follow the Doctor, but paused, turning back to her, "I truly am sorry".

Amy watched as the blonde walked away and joined the Doctor over by some controls, "Why?" she called, looking at the Doctor as she moved closer to them, "Because I made a mistake? One mistake? I don't even remember doing it," but he refused to look at her and she hit her hand against the top of the controls, "Doctor!"

"Yeah, I know," he looked back up at her, giving her an almost mocking look, "You're only human".

Liz looked over to them, frowning slightly, "What are you doing?" she asked quietly.

"The worst thing I'll ever do," he answered, and the Hatter took his hand, giving him a look, " _We'll_ ever do," he corrected himself as they continued fiddling with the controls, "We're going to pass a massive electrical charge through the Star Whale's brain. Should knock out all its higher functions, leave it a vegetable," he glanced up at them, quickly looking away again, "The ship will still fly, but the whale won't feel it".

"That'll be like killing it," Amy gasped, her eyes widening.

"Look, three options," he sighed, looking back at them as the Hatter's eyes drifted across the room, frowning slightly at Mandy. Why was it that she couldn't help but feel as if there was a connection between the kids and the Star Whale? They just seemed to keep popping up, even on the recording…, "One: we let the Star Whale continue in unendurable agony for hundreds more years," he shook his head, "Two: we kill everyone on this ship. Three: we murder a beautiful, innocent creature as painlessly as we can," he scratched the side of his head, "And then…I find a new name, because I won't be the Doctor any more".

"And I could hardly call myself the Hatter anymore," the Time Lady added, focusing her attention on the control panel in front of her, before tilting her head thoughtfully, "I don't think I would be able to wear a hat again, either".

"There must be something we can do, some other way," Liz tried desperately.

"Nobody talk to me!" the Doctor suddenly shouted at the humans, furiously, "Nobody _human_ has anything to say to me today!"

Amy and Liz both jumped back at his outburst, actually looking a little fearful. After a moment, they both walked away with tears in their eyes, and Amy went to lean against a wall across the room with Mandy.

The Hatter grabbed his shoulders, turning him around to face her, "Sweetheart, please," she said softly to him, trying to give him a soothing look, despite her own pain at having to do such an awful act to an innocent creature, "There still might be another way around this," she reached up with one hand, running it through his hair, and he closed his eyes briefly at the touch, "There's always another way…" slowly, her eyes drifted back across the children, her mind racing.

He moved closer until his forehead was touching hers, "Not this time," he muttered, his eyes closed.

"No," she shook her head, her voice firm, making him blink, and pull back slightly to look at her, "There's always another way. Still…" she trailed off, looking at the control panel, "As much as I hate to say this, we do need to have a backup plan".

He kissed her cheek, looking resigned, and returned to working on the controls, pulling his sonic out, flashing it at the equipment. The Hatter pulled a panel off and began to kneel on the ground, when she noticed that another group of children had entered the room.

"Timmy!" Mandy suddenly called, jumping up, and running over to a boy with red hair, apparently recognising him as Amy stood, too, watching, "You made it, you're okay," she frowned slightly when he didn't react, "It's me, Mandy".

The Time Lady watched curiously, when her eyes widened in worry, noticing that behind the girl, one of the tentacles had risen. She opened her mouth, just about to shout out, knowing that she didn't have enough time to even jump up, let alone run across the room, but before she could even get a sound out, the tentacle tapped Mandy gently on the shoulder. The girl turned around and lightly reached up, patting the tentacle.

The blonde gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, feeling completely stupid for not making the connection sooner. The children, it had been about the kids all along, they had been the whole reason that the Star Whale had saved them in the first place. It wasn't just going to leave the ship, it had wanted to help, and even now, after all the years of pain and misery, it still just wanted to help.

Her eyes caught sight of Amy, who was staring at the children, who were playing with the tentacle, and smiled slowly, noticing the look of realisation making its way across her own face. This was it, this was Amy's time to redeem herself in the Doctor's eyes, and to get a chance to save the day, because while it would be so easy to do just that, like she had many times before, she also knew the importance of letting Amy be the one to do it. Besides, how many more times could she save the day, and not end up with an ego like the Doctor's?

Amy gasped as she fully made the connection and her eyes flew over to the Hatter, who gave her a bright smile, nodding.

"Doctor, stop!" she called urgently, running over to him as he continued working at the controls, "Whatever you're doing, stop it now!" she ran over to Liz, grabbing her arm, "Sorry, you're Majesty," she began dragging her back over to the voting booth, "Going to need a hand".

"Amy, no!" the Doctor shouted, hurrying over to them, "No!"

"It's okay!" the Hatter jumped forward, grabbing his arm, grinning broadly as his head snapped around to look at her as if she was insane, "Just trust her, sweetheart".

Amy pushed Liz's hand down on the 'Abdicate' button. The energy pulse over the Star Whale's brain stopped at once and the creature gave a great billow that echoed throughout the entire ship, and the ship shook harshly, almost sending everyone in the Tower to the ground as they struggled to remain standing.

"Amy, what have you done?" the Doctor demanded the moment the shaking had calmed, staring around the room, looking shocked.

"Nothing at all," Amy replied, smiling slowly as everything settled down once more, the Hatter laughed, "Am I right?"

"We've increased speed!" Hawthorne exclaimed from behind them, looking at a screen, amazed.

"Yeah, well, you've stopped torturing the pilot," she remarked, rolling her eyes slightly, exchanging a grin with the Time Lady, "Got to help".

"It's still here," Liz breathed, walking over to look down at the exposed brain of the whale, looking stunned and confused, "I don't understand," she shook her head.

The Hatter grabbed the Doctor's hand, squeezing it as he looked almost as confused as Liz.

"The Star Whale didn't come like a miracle all those years ago," Amy explained to them patently, "It _volunteered_. You didn't have to trap it or torture it. That was all _you_. It came because it couldn't stand to watch your children cry," her eyes drifted over to the Time Lords, "What if you were really old, and really kind and alone?" she shook her head, "Your whole race dead. No future. What couldn't you do then?" she smiled softly, looking at the Time Lords again, "If you were that old, and that kind, and the very last of your kind…" she gave them a pointed look as the Hatter smiled proudly at her, "You couldn't just stand there and watch children cry".

"Well said," the Hatter nodded to her, giving her a wink.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter stood beside each other, their arms linked as they looked out of an observation deck of the ship, admiring the view of the stars, when Amy joined them.

"From her Majesty," she told them, holding Liz's mask out toward them, smiling, "She says there will be no more secrets on Starship UK".

The Doctor glanced down at it, "Amy, you could have killed everyone on this ship," he said to her very seriously.

She raised her eyebrows, "The Hatter realised it before I did," she pointed out, gesturing to the blonde, "And she practically told me that I was right before I even moved".

"For all you know, she could have been thinking about sweets," he replied before the Time Lady could respond, "Which is very likely," he shot the blonde a fond look, pulling her closer to him.

"Hey, I take offense at that!" the Hatter nudged his side, giving him a look, before pausing, "Though…you might have a good point," she agreed after a moment, laughing slightly.

Amy laughed along with her before her laughter faded, noticing the still serious look on the Doctor's face. She sighed sadly, "You could have killed a Star Whale".

He glanced at her, "And you saved it," he smiled, nodding, "I know, I know".

"Amazing though, don't you think? The Star Whale. All that pain and misery…and loneliness…" she looked at them sideways, smiling softly as they looked back at her, "And it just made it kind".

"But you couldn't have known how it would react".

"You couldn't," she gave the Doctor a pointed look, "But I've seen it before," he looked away, "I've seen it _twice_ over," she glanced at the Hatter, recalling how kind she had been to her when she had been a child, how she had made her feel safe when they had investigated the crack in her wall, "Very old and very kind, and the very, very last," she raised her eyebrows at him, "Sound a bit familiar?"

The Hatter smiled gently at her, "I think this calls for a group hug," she announced happily, and let go of the Doctor to throw her arm over him, the other around Amy, and pulling them both into a tight hug.

Amy laughed softly as they hugged, "Hey," she said to them.

"What?" the Doctor asked as they pulled back, but he kept his arm around the Hatter.

"Gotcha," she grinned.

"Ha!" he laughed along with the Hatter, "Gotcha!"

They laughed together for a moment before Amy frowned at the Hatter, "You knew before I worked it out about the Star Whale, but you didn't say anything," she crossed her arms across her chest, giving her a look, "Why?"

The Hatter glanced at the Doctor, shrugging, "What, and run the risk of getting an ego like him?" she nudged the Doctor's side, and he pouted at her, "Nah. Besides, I thought it would be nice for you to have a shot at saving the day, and…" she gave her a long look, "A chance of redemption".

She lowered her eyes, wincing slightly, "Thank you".

The Doctor cleared his throat, looking a little uncomfortable, "Let's get back to the TARDIS".

….

They walked back through the ship and through the market that appeared to be even more packed with people then earlier that day, heading towards the TARDIS as the Time Lords held hands.

"Shouldn't we say goodbye?" Amy asked them, hurrying to keep up with them, "Won't they wonder where we went?"

"Of course they'll wonder," the Hatter smiled, giving her a wink, "For the rest of their lives, they'll wonder. Oh, and the songs they will write," she laughed and Amy smiled slowly.

"Never mind them," the Doctor shook his head, "Big day tomorrow".

Amy lost her smile, her eyes widening slightly, "Sorry, what?" she came to a quick stop.

"Well, it's always a big day tomorrow," he shrugged, reaching for his TARDIS key as they reached the time machine, not seeming to notice her odd behaviour, but the Time Lady did. She gave Amy a small, concerned look, "We've got a time machine," he continued happily, "We skip the little ones".

"Amy, are you okay?" the Time Lady eyed her with a small frown, tilting her head.

She bit her bottom lip, "You know what I said about getting back for tomorrow morning…" she began, hesitating as the Doctor turned around from the doors, eyeing her, too, "Have you ever run away from something because…you were scared…or not ready, or just…just because you could?"

"Yes, many times…" the Doctor nodded slowly, his eyes moving to rest of the Hatter, thinking about all the times he had tried to tell her his true feelings, only to chicken out at the last minute for fear of what would happen if she didn't feel the same, "A long time ago".

The Hatter gave him gentle smile, having a pretty good idea just what he was referring to.

"What happened?"

He held out a hand, gesturing to himself and the Time Lady beside him, grinning, "Hello".

A phone began ringing and the Hatter glanced behind her, to the TARIDS, looking curious. The Doctor glanced back to it, too, and moved back to the doors, unlocking them.

"Right," Amy nodded slowly, swallowing, "There's something I haven't told you both…" she frowned as they glanced back to her, "No, hang on. Is that a phone?" they opened the doors and stepped inside, and the sound grew louder, "People phone you?" she blinked, closing the door behind her.

"It would be a pretty pointless phone box without a phone," the Hatter remarked, laughing as she skipped up the stairs to the console.

"Would you mind?" the Doctor made a sweeping gesture to the phone amidst all the other controls on the console, moving past it to fiddle with a couple of controls, the Time Lady joining him, just to make sure he didn't hit something he shouldn't.

Amy hurried up to the controls, grabbing the phone, "Hello?" she answered, turning around to lean against the console, "Sorry, who? No, seriously, who?" she pulled the phone away from her ear and against her shoulder, looking across to the Time Lords, "Says he's the Prime Minister," she raised her eyebrows, almost looking impressed, "First the Queen, now the Prime Minister. Get about, don't you?"

"Which Prime Minster?" he questioned as the Hatter moved around beside Amy, pulling a lever.

She put the phone back to her ear, "Er, which Prime Minister?" she put it against her shoulder again, "The British one".

The Hatter gave her an amused look from around the Time Rotor, "Oh, well, that really narrows it down," she shook her head, hitting a button, "Which Prime Minister?"

"Which Prime Minister?" she asked into the phone. Her eyes widened after a moment, looking stunned before she held it out to the Doctor, who was closets, "Winston Churchilll for you," she told him.

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed brightly, grabbing the phone as the Hatter broke into a broad smile, quickly moving around to his side to hear for herself, "Hello, dear," he said over the phone.

"Hello, Winston!" the Hatter called cheerfully, leaned closer to the Doctor so that he could hear her, "Lovely to hear from you…well, hopefully, anyway".

"What's up?" the Doctor asked.

"Tricky situation," Winston replied, "Potentially very dangerous. I think I'm going to need you both".

"Don't worry about a thing, Prime Minister," he assured him, exchanging a smile with the Hatter, and glancing at Amy, "We're on our way".

And with that, the Hatter pulled a leaver, and they dematerialised.

 _ **Ooh, next up, the Daleks. We'll get to see just how protective this version of the Doctor is, how will the Hatter react to the Daleks, and will Amy learn more about the Hatter's past? I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **I always try to reply to people when they leave a review. I admit, sometimes I forget, but I always try to, especially if people ask questions. I'm so glad you liked the last chapter and hope you liked this one, thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **GuestCat:**_ _ **You have no idea how happy it always makes me to hear that people enjoy the stories, and I'm not really sure what the inspiration was. I was just watching 'School Reunion' one day when I got the idea in my head of what might have happened if a Time Lady survived who was the Doctor's best friend, and it just grew from there until I couldn't ignore the idea anymore and just had to write it. And the inspiration for her name is pretty obvious, Alice in Wonderland, the 2010 movie that I had recently watched at the time of first starting this series.**_

 _ **I'm afraid that River is still Amy and Rory's child, I like to try sticking as much as I can to the show, so that's going to be the same, but exactly what her relationship she had with the Doctor and the Hatter because of that, you'll have to wait and see. I can't say when or how the Hatter will next regenerate, just that I've actually had to rethink my original plan because of certain things, but I do have two actresses in mind, so you'll have to be patient :)**_

 _ **Thanks for the review :)**_


	5. Chapter 5 Victory of the Daleks, Part 1

_**Victory of the Daleks, Part 1**_

The TARDIS materialised inside a small storage room in the Cabinet War Rooms and the Doctor opened the door, peeking his head out, only to find himself looking down the barrel of several guns aimed straight at his face by soldiers. He blinked slightly at them, surprised, and glanced back to the Hatter, who was just behind him, giving him a questioning look, before moving to look around him.

"Oh," she sighed slightly, catching sight of the guns, and they stepped completely outside the doors, "Well, I suppose we ought to have expected this," she glanced at the Doctor.

The Doctor began to move in front of her, eyeing the guns, when a hand parted the soldiers and Winston Churchill strolled forward with a cigar in his mouth. Both Time Lords broke into broad smiles.

"Amy?" the Doctor called back into the TARDIS, holding out an arm to the man, and Amy, having changed into everyday clothing, looked around the edge of the doors, "Winston Churchill".

Winston removed the cigar from his mouth, staring at the Time Lords, "Doctor? Hatter?" he gaped, taking in both there appearances, since he had never meet these two versions on them before, "Is it you?"

Amy slowly stepped out and closer to the Time Lords, her eyes wide as she looked at Winston in amazement.

"Oh, Winston, my old friend!" the Doctor laughed, reaching to shake his hand, but Winston paused, wiggling his fingers expectantly. He pointed at him, "Ah, every time!" he exchanged a grin with the Time Lady.

"You cheeky thing," the Hatter shook her head fondly, giving Winston an approving wink.

"What's he after?" Amy asked, glancing at them curiously.

"The TARDIS key," the blonde informed her, smiling, "He does it every time. We had tea together once and he still tried to get it".

"Think of what I could achieve with your remarkable machine, Doctor," Winston tried, casting the TARDIS an almost longing look behind them, "The lives that could be saved!"

"Ah," the Doctor, still smiling, shook his head and carefully closed the TARDIS doors, "Doesn't work like that".

He gave them a playful look, "Must I take it by force?"

"I'd like to see you try," he turned back around, wrapping his arm around the Hatter's waist, frowning slightly as he glanced at the guns still pointing at them, "Mind pointing those guns somewhere else?" he gave Winston a sharp look, "I don't like guns aimed at my wife".

The Hatter rolled her eyes slightly at his protectiveness, giving him a slightly harder than normal nudge in his side, "And need I remind you that I am quite accustom to being surrounded by weapons," she gave him a pointed look and he winced slightly, remembering that time of their lives, "After all, I did spend quite a bit of time designing and building them, though…" she paused, her eyes drifting to the soldiers with a frown of her own, "It is a little unwelcoming way to greet people, Winston".

"I apologise, but protocols have to be followed," Winston nodded to them, glancing at the soldiers beside him, "At ease," he ordered, and they all lowered their guns.

The Doctor relaxed, feeling far happier now that the guns were no longer aimed at them, and broke into another broad smile, "You rang?" he raised his eyebrows at the man.

Winston gestured for them to follow him and he led them out of the storage room, and along a corridor, the sounds of an air raid going on in the skies above them echoing around them, shaking dust from the ceiling. The Hatter linked her arm through Winston's, her other linked with the Doctor's as they walked.

"So you've changed your faces again," Winston remarked, glancing back at them.

"Yeah, well, I had a bit of work done," the Doctor shrugged, reaching up to touch his own face.

The Hatter leaned closer to Winston, saying in a mock whisper, "You should have seen the grey hairs," she grinned cheekily, flashing the Doctor a wink.

"Oi!" he exclaimed in mock outrage, nudging her side, "He didn't have any grey hairs!"

"How do you know?" she gave him a narrowed eyed look, "Did you spend hours looking at yourself in the mirror?"

He coughed and looked away, "…no, of course not, dear".

"Got it, got it, got it!" Amy suddenly cried excitedly from behind them, grinning, "Cabinet War Rooms, right?" she looked over to the Time Lords.

"Yep," he quickly nodded before the Hatter could say anything more on the subject of 'grey hairs,' "Top secret heart of the War Office, right under London," he pointed up to the ceiling.

"You're late, by the way," Winston told them, just as a woman approached him with clipboard.

"Requisitions, sir," the woman said to him, handing him the clipboard.

"Excellent," he began going over the papers, passing his cane to the Doctor, who tucked it under his arm as he frowned down at his watch.

"What do mean by 'late,'" the Hatter questioned, giving Winston a sharp look, seeing as they really hadn't had the best time lately when it came to being late.

"I rang you two a month ago".

"Really?" the Doctor blinked before shaking his head, "Sorry, sorry. It's a Type Forty TARDIS, it's…I'm just running her in…"

"Yeah, for the past _several centuries_ ," the Time Lady coughed, giving him a pointed look as Amy laughed quietly, "Sweetheart, it's not the old girl's fault…well, not completely. _You_ were the one who couldn't pass your TARDIS examination".

"That test was rigged! I swear, they gave me different questions to everyone else".

"Of course they did. That's how the test was done, so that no one could cheat".

"Something the matter, Breen?" Winston asked, eyeing the woman closely as he handed the clipboard back to her, catching the Time Lords attention, "You look a little down in the dumps".

"No, sir," the woman gave him a bright smile and hugged the clipboard to her chest. The Time Lady watched her reaction carefully, "Fine, sir".

"Action this day, Breen!" he cheered, making her jump, "Action this day!"

"Yes, sir," Breen nodded quickly, forcing a smile, and glancing at Amy and the Hatter, who gave her a smile in return, before walking away.

"Excuse me, sir!" a man in an officer's uniform approached them, "Got another formation coming in, Prime Minister," he reported to Winston, "Stukas, by the look of them".

"We shall go up top, Group Captain!" Winston responded, almost sounding cheerful, "We'll give them what for!" he glanced back to the Time Lords and Amy, "Coming, Doctor and Hatter?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look, not exactly wanting to get involved, nor witness anything to do with the war, "Why?" they asked, eyeing him.

He snatched his cane off the Doctor, "I have something to show you," he smirked slightly at them, heading off down the corridor.

The Doctor made an 'ooh,' sound, waggling his eyebrows at the girls, making Amy laugh. The Hatter gave him a fond smile and kissed his cheek. They followed after Winston down the hall and into a lift, where Winston began puffing on a new cigar as the lift started going up, much to the Time Lords discomfort as they waved the smoke away from themselves, and the Hatter's eyes began watering from the smell.

"We stand at a crossroads, Doctor, Hatter, quite alone," Winston began, not seeming to notice there discomfort, "With our backs against the wall. Invasion is expected daily…" the Time Lady winced slightly, knowing just what that type of fear felt like, "…so I will grasp with both hands anything that will give us an advantage over the Nazi menace," he finished firmly.

The Time Lords exchanged a quick, slightly concerned look, "Such as?" they asked him, both tensing slightly, since such talk coming from humans, or really any species, had never ended well.

The lift came to a stop and Winston opened the gate, looking back to them, "Follow me," he gestured with his cane, and they stepped out.

He led them through a short corridor and opened a door, leading them out onto a large rooftop during daytime with sandbags lining the edge of the building, stacked on top of each other, while a few soldiers stood on guard. On top of a slightly raised part of the roof, a man wearing a white coat stood, watching the sky through a pair of binoculars.

"Wow!" Amy gasped, staring across the roof and out over London to see blimps and balloons in the sky above the city.

"Doctor and Hatter, this is Professor Edwin Bracewell," Winston introduced the man in the white coat, and the man lowered the binoculars to look down to them, "Head of our Ironsides project".

The Doctor gave him the 'V for Victory' sign and the Hatter flashed him a bright smile, tipping the brim of her hat towards him.

"How do you do?" Bracewell smiled and waved to them in greeting, before going back to looking at the sky through his binoculars.

The Time Lords and Amy stepped closer towards the edge of the building, looking out over London to see numerous German plans flying towards them on the horizon, dropping bombs as they went as smoke filled the air from bomb damaged houses and buildings.

"Oh, Doctor…Hatter, it's…" Amy breathed, shaking her head, completely lost for words as she took in everything in around her.

"History," the Time Lords nodded.

"Ready, Bracewell?" Winston called behind them.

"Aye aye, sir!" Bracewell, still watching the sky, gave him a thumbs up, "On my order…fire!"

Bright green energy bolts shot into the sky from behind a sandbagged area, and at the German plans, hitting them all perfectly, destroying them instantly. The Time Lords whirled around, their eyes widening in horror as they automatically stepped closer to each other.

"No, please, no…" the Hatter gasped, feeling herself beginning to shake.

"What was that?" Amy exclaimed, shocked.

"That wasn't human," the Doctor muttered, staring up at the sky, a slight edge entering his voice, "That was never human technology. That sounded like…" he trailed off, swallowing as he meet the Time Lady's eyes, and she nodded, looking sickly pale. He grabbed her hand, holding it tightly, "Show us!" he demanded urgently as he and the blonde ran towards the ladder, leading to the upper part of the roof, "Show us! Show us what that was!"

"Advance!" Bracewell ordered as they quickly climbed the ladder, somehow managing to do so without letting go of each other's hands.

"Our new secret weapon!" Winston cried proudly from below them as all the Time Lords could do was watch on in horror as there fear was confirmed. A Dalek rolled out from behind the sandbags, painted an army khaki with a brown utility belt tied around its middle, and with a small Union Flag on display, just below its eyestalk, "What do you think?" he called up to them, not seeming to notice the look on their faces, "Quite something, eh?"

The Doctor slowly stepped closer to the Dalek, looking straight down it's eyestalk as he made sure to place himself in front of the Hatter, who, for once, didn't even try to argue with him over his protectiveness, far to shocked and horrified, "What are you doing here?" he questioned, trying to keep his temper under control.

"I am your solider," the Dalek replied.

"What the hell…" the Hatter breathed, her eyes wide as she stepped closer to the Doctor's side, "Did you…what do you mean?" she shook her head, unable to actually comprehend what she had just heard coming from a Dalek of all things.

"I am your solider," it repeated.

"Stop this," the Doctor commanded, "Stop now," he fixed it with an intent, angry look, "Now, you know who we are. You _always_ do," he sighed heavily.

"Your identities are unknown".

Bracewell stepped towards them, "Perhaps I can clarify things here," he offered them brightly, gesturing towards the Dalek, "This is one of my _Ironsides_ ".

The Time Lords whirled around to look at him, startled, "You're _what_?"

The man shook his head at them, simply looking at the Dalek, "You will help the Allied cause in any way that you can?" he asked the Dalek.

"Yes," the Dalek confirmed.

"Until the Germans have been utterly smashed?"

"Yes".

"And what is your ultimate aim?"

"To win the war".

…

The Doctor and the Hatter stood together in Winston's officer, going over plans, diagrams, and blueprints of the so called 'Ironsides,' on Winston's desk, just trying to find some way to prove to everyone else that they were Daleks, and just how serious the entire situation was.

"They're not 'Ironsides,' they're _Daleks_ ," the Hatter groaned loudly, desperately trying to make the humans understand, fighting the urge to grab Winston and start shaking him, "Please, Winston, just listen to us!"

"They are Bracewell's Ironsides, Hatter," Winston told them stubbornly, shaking his head, "Look!" he pointed down to the papers scattered across his desk, "Blueprints, statistics, field tests, photographs. He _invented_ them!" he insisted.

"Invented them?" the Doctor repeated in disbelief before scoffing, "Oh, no, no, no!"

"Yes! He approached one of our brass hats a few months ago. Fellow's a genius".

"A Scottish genius, too," Amy added, leaning towards them with a small smile, not seeming the least bit afraid or worried about the Daleks, which was very, very wrong, considering the fact they had invaded her planet not very long ago, "Maybe you should listen to…"

"Amelia," the Hatter cut her off sternly, casting her a look, making her blink in mild surprise, "Believe me, I'm all for trying to make light of a situation, but when it comes to the _Daleks_ …" she gave Winston a pointed look as he shook his head at her, "…they are most certainly not a joking matter, and I don't often say that," she finished grimly.

"He didn't invent them," the Doctor looked back to Winston, forcing his voice to remain calm and low, "They're alien".

Winston eyed them dubiously, " _Alien_?"

The Time Lords tensed as they sensed a Dalek gliding past the open door behind them and waited for it to pass, both practically holding their breath.

"And totally hostile," the Time Lords hissed together in unison, well aware of the Dalek being a short distance away from them.

"Precisely," Winston nodded, not bothered in the slightest, "They will win me the war," he grabbed one of the blueprints and moved it aside to reveal a propaganda poster of a Dalek.

The Hatter stared down at it, looking sickly pale, "Oh, please tell me this is just a nightmare?" she breathed, shaking her head, and looked away from the poster, unable to look at it any longer.

Winston moved around the desk, out his office door, and began walking down the hall as the Time Lords and Amy quickly followed after him.

"Why won't you listen to us?" the Doctor demanded, highly frustrated, "Why did you call us in if you won't listen to us?"

"When I rang you a month ago, I must admit, I had my doubts," Winston glanced back to them, "The Ironsides seemed too good to be true…"

"Then listen to your instincts!" the Hatter tried quickly.

"Right!" the Doctor waved his hand at the Hatter in agreement, "So destroy them! Exterminate them!"

"Doctor," the Time Lady looked at him sharply. She had to admit to having felt that very urge many, many times over the centuries, especially after her children's deaths, in fact, if the Doctor hadn't managed to talk her out of it, she probably would have got herself killed trying to get revenge on Davros for what he had done, but now she could see how wrong destroying all Daleks would be. It would be genocide, as simple as that, and in doing so, they would became no better than the Daleks themselves. There had to be another way to stop the Daleks that didn't involve destroying them completely, there just had to be.

The Doctor looked at her, seeming slightly surprised before it hit him just what she was thinking, and he winced. He took her hand and placed an apologetic kiss to it, "I didn't mean it to sound like that, dear," he murmured to her, making sure that the others couldn't hear him, "It's just…"

"I know, sweetheart," she whispered, giving him a small smile, and grasped his hand tightly, "And I certainly don't blame you at all," she sighed heavily, shaking her head, "You have every reason to feel that fury in regards to the Daleks, it's just that I think we should be wary about talking about destroying the Daleks. Talk like that never ends well".

Before he could say anything, Winston spoke, "But imagine what I could do with a hundred," he remarked, sounding determined, "A thousand!"

The Time Lords exchanged a dark look, shaking their heads at him, "We are imagining".

"Believe us, we know exactly what it would be like," the Hatter continued, giving Winston a very, very serious look, "We _lived_ through it, we lost our families, friends, our children…" she swallowed thickly as her children and grandchildren's faces flashed through her mind. She took a deep breath as the Doctor squeezed her hand, "And it was all because of the Daleks".

A Dalek rolled passed them, carrying a large folder, and the Time Lords carefully eyed it until it was out of sight.

The Doctor shook himself and glanced at Amy, "Amy, tell him," he told her.

"Tell him what?" Amy frowned at him, looking confused.

"About the Daleks!"

She gave him a blank look, "What would I know about the Daleks?" she asked.

"Everything. They invaded your world, remember?" she looked at him as if he was insane, making both Time Lords frown at her, "Planets in the sky? You don't forget that".

"Amy…" the Hatter began slowly, looking at her closely, trying not to allow the alarm and concern she was starting to feel sink into her voice, "Please tell us you remember the Daleks?" she narrowed her eyes slightly, "Or what about the day the Earth was moved and all those planets appeared in the sky? Surly you remember that part?"

"No, sorry," she shook her head, looking at them oddly.

They stared at her, "That's not possible," the Doctor frowned.

Amy gave them another look, as if it was them who was acting strange, and shrugged as she stepped into the Map Room.

"This is just getting stranger," the Hatter commented, watching after Amy, before glancing at the Doctor, "I mean, first all this stuff with the Daleks, and now Amy doesn't remember one of the most significate alien events to have happened during her time?" she shook her head, sighing, "Whatever happened to the old days were our companions were just clever people who we took along with us?"

The Doctor gave her a thoughtful look, "It does feel like things have got more complicated with companions since Rose first came along," he agreed, nodding slowly, "Bad Wolf, Torchwood, the Master, then that prophecy about Donna and I…" he began listing them off on his fingers.

"My point exactly," she sighed again, tilting her head, "This has to be connected to that crack. It just has to be, I just can't work out how yet," a note of frustration entered her tone.

He grinned at her and kissed her hand again, making her blink in surprise, "Well, then, we had better not waste any time figuring out what's going on," he commented, sounding quite cheerful.

The Time Lady raised her eyebrows at him, a small sly smile spreading across her face as she slowly reached up, and straightened his bowtie, inwardly laughing as he stepped closer to her, "You know, I do like how positive this regeneration seems to be," she told him with approving look, "I do hope that's going to be a recurring trait".

"So do I," he nodded, giving her a bright smile before it slowly dimmed, "The Daleks," he sighed heavily, and any of that happiness he had shown before vanished almost instantly.

"Well, that's one way to burst the happy bubble," she groaned slightly, shaking her head, but there was a touch of amusement in her tone, "Not to mention that positive attitude, but you do have a very good point," reluctantly, she took a small step back from him, and grabbed his hand instead, "We're going to need to focus if we are going to work out what's going on".

"Why do you always have to be right?" he mockingly whined, giving her a playful look.

"I'm not always right, sweetheart," she laughed, nudging his side before titling her head, "But this time…I _am_ ".

He laughed as they walked into the Map Room where a large table was in the middle of the room, covered in a map as people moved model figures across it, while other people were busy talking into radios. Winston stood before the table, looking over the map as the Time Lords moved to stand beside Amy, who was off to the side of the room, watching everything.

"Oh, I really don't like this," the Hatter muttered, eyeing a Dalek as it rolled past them, trying to hold back a shiver, "They've got to be up to something, they always are".

"But what is it?" the Doctor wondered aloud, his eyes narrowed on the Dalek, "What are they after?"

Amy shot them both looks, pausing slightly as she looked at the Time Lady's pale face…well, paler then normal, "Are you okay?" she asked her, sounding a little worried, "You look…sick".

She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose, "You would be to if you were looking at the creatures who murdered your children," she swallowed hard, avoiding Amy and the Doctor's eyes.

The red heads eyes widened in shock as she glanced at the Doctor, who nodded grimly. She hesitated, looking unsure of just what to do or say, "You mean the Daleks…" she began.

"Yes, _the Daleks_ ," she nodded quickly, pointing angrily over towards the Dalek, "That creature there, Amy, that's a Dalek, not an 'Ironsides,' and that is what murdered my children, just as they have to so many other people. Amy, you have got understand just what these creatures are".

Amy stared at her for a long moment, but couldn't it be possible that the 'Daleks,' and 'Ironsides' just looked similar to each other? Maybe it was just a big mistake? She glanced over to the creature and decided that there was only one way to work out just what was going on, "Well, let's just ask, shall we?" she began walking over towards the creature.

"Amy…Amelia!" the Time Lords hissed urgently, the blonde tried to grab her arm, but she wasn't fast enough.

Amy reached the Dalek and tapped its side, and its head swivelled around to look at her. The Time Lords tensed, watching worriedly.

"Can I be of assistance?" the Dalek questioned.

"Oh," Amy gave it a smile, "Yes. Yes! See, my friends reckons you're _dangerous_ ," she gestured back over to the Time Lords, raising her eyebrows at the Dalek, "That you're _alien_. Is it true?"

"I am your solider".

"Oh, I bet they hate having to say that," the Hatter whispered to the Doctor, sounding almost satisfied by the idea, "I'm surprised they don't chock on the words…wait, can Daleks even chock?" she slowly frowned.

"Yeah," Amy shook her head, "Got that bit. Love a squaddie," she crossed her arms across her chest, "What else, though?"

"Please excuse me," the Dalek ignored her question and its head swivelled around, "I have duties to perform," and it continued on its way.

The Doctor ran his hand to his face, looking frustrated as he and the Time Lady stepped over to Winston, taking the cigar from his mouth, "Winston," he tried to catch his attention, "Winston, please…"

"We are waging total war, Doctor!" Winston exclaimed, sounding slightly annoyed as he gestured to the map before them, "Day after day the Luftwaffe pound this great city like an iron fist".

"Yeah, and just wait until the Daleks reveal their true nature," the Hatter told him darkly, giving him a very serious look, "You have no idea, Winston. You think this War's bad, this is _nothing_ compared to what the Daleks will do once they get started!"

"Men, woman, and children slaughtered!" he continued, and the Time Lady winced, "Families torn apart. Wren's churches in flames".

"Yeah?" the Doctor scoffed, shaking his head, "Try _the Earth_ in flames".

"Please, just listen to us, Winston," the Hatter grabbed his arm, desperately trying to get him to understand, "We've lived through what the Daleks can do, all the horror and pain! If you had seen just a _fraction_ of what we have, you would never ever even think about using the Daleks!" she tightened her grip on his arm, "I know you feel desperate, but this isn't the answer," she swallowed hard thinking about the Moment, "Believe me, you will never be able to forgive yourself if you go down this road".

Winston ignored them both and pulled his arm out of her grip, "I weep for my country," he began to move around the table, "I weep for my empire. It is breaking my heart".

They followed him and the Doctor pattered his shoulder, "You're _resisting_ , Winston!" he tried to comfort him, "The whole world _knows_ you're resisting! You're a beacon of _hope_ ".

"And that is so, so important!" the Hatter added quickly.

Winston picked up a clipboard and scribbled something on to it, "But for how long?" he sighed, passing the clipboard to a woman before moving around the table again, knowing they would follow him, "Millions of innocent lives will be saved if I use these Ironsides _now_!"

A Dalek rolled toward them, "Can I be of assistance?"

"Shut it!" the Time Lords snapped at it, pointing angrily at it, and the Dalek actually rolled back slightly.

"Listen to us," the Doctor continued, turning to Winston as the Hatter took a deep, calming breath, "Just _listen_. The Daleks have no conscience, no mercy, no pity. They are our oldest and deadliest enemy," he tried to make him understand, "You _cannot_ trust them!"

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would give a favourable reference to the Devil," Winston told them stubbornly, "These machines are our salvation," he pointed over to the Dalek, just as a siren sounded loudly, "Oh, the All-Clear," he breathed in relief, pressing his hand to his chest, and looked at the Time Lords, "We are safe…for now," he finished grimly.

And with that, he turned and left the room. The Doctor and the Hatter glanced at the Dalek, eyeing it carefully as it began to trail after Winston.

"It's the All-Clear," Amy remarked as the approached them, frowning slightly as she caught there expressions, "You two okay?"

The Doctor picked up an officer cap and began fiddling with it, twisting it in his hands, and the Hatter quickly grabbed it off him, wincing at the way he had practically tried bending the hat in half. She never could stand watching books and hats being mistreated, even if it wasn't one of her own hats.

He blinked at her, "Oh, sorry, dear," he quickly gave her a small, sheepish smile, realising what he had done, but there was a hint of amusement in his tone as he said it. He had always found her…ah, _obsession_ with hats amusing, a little less so perhaps when he thought about that time she had practically admitted that his rival for her had been her hats. He cleared his throat, glancing at Amy, "What does hate look like, Amy?" he asked her.

"Hate?" Amy repeated, sounding startled.

"Mmm," he nodded, looking across the room to a Dalek, "It looks like a Dalek. And I'm going to prove it".

He grabbed the Hatter's hand and they strolled out of the room, both looking determined as Amy quickly hurried after them. They soon located Bracewell's laboratory and marched inside the room, looking around the room at bits of equipment that was stacked on tables around the room, while the man himself, Bracewell, leaned over another table, looking over folders and paper that covered it.

"All right, Prof!" the Doctor called as the Hatter carefully examined the equipment around the room with a small frown on her face, "Now, the PM's been filling us in," he informed the man as he moved over towards a table, picking up a file, "Amazing things, these Ironsides of yours. _Amazing_ ," he shot the man a slightly sarcastic look, "You must be very proud of them".

"Just doing my bit," Bracewell smiled modestly, not seeming to notice the hint of sarcasm as he glanced over to them.

Amy picked up a spanner, "Not bad for a Paisley boy," she commented as the Doctor flopped down onto a nearby armchair and quickly began looking through the file as the Hatter moved to look over his shoulder.

Bracewell chuckled, looking at Amy, his eyes drifting across to the Hatter, having noted earlier her own accent, "Yes, I thought I detected a familiar cadence, my dear," he nodded.

"So tell us, because I would love to know," the Hatter flashed the man a friendly smile, raising an eyebrow, "How exactly did you come up with these… _interesting_ Ironsides?" she questioned, "The idea, I mean?"

"How does the muse of invention come to anyone?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look and the Doctor snapped the file shut, "But you get a lot of these clever notions, do you?" he eyed the man, tossing the file onto the table behind them.

"Well, ideas just seem to teem from my head!" he replied, smiling broadly as he gestured to his head, "Wonderful things, like…let me show you," he moved across the room and over to a table, grabbing a couple of workbooks, and holding them out as the Time Lords joined him, curious to see just what other ideas he had, "Some musings on the potential of hypersonic flight," the Hatter grabbed one of the books, quickly running her eyes over the pages scribbled with notes and calculations as the Doctor looked over her shoulder, "Gravity bubbles that can sustain life outside of the terrestrial atmosphere," he continued brightly, handing them another workbook, "Came to me in the bath!"

The Hatter lifted her eyes from the book in her hands, giving the man a careful look, seeing as there was no way someone during this time could possibly come up with any of these ideas, let alone accurately calculate and design them, "Oh, and these are all _your_ ideas, or are they _theirs_?" her tone turned slightly colder as she looked across the room to where a Dalek was watching them.

"Oh, no, no, no," Bracewell quickly shook his head, "These robots are entirely under my control. They are…" a Dalek rolled across to them, carrying a small tray with a tea cup balancing on top of it. He smiled at it and took the cup, "Thank you…" he looked back to the Time Lords and Amy, "…the perfect servant, and the perfect warrior".

The Doctor stepped closer to him, "I don't know what you're up to, Professor, but whatever they've promised, you cannot trust them!" he glared at him and pointed a finger at him, "Call them what you like, the Daleks are death!"

"Yes, Doctor!" Winston called as he stepped into the room, followed by a second Dalek, making them turn around to look at him, "Death to our enemies! Death to the forces of darkness, and death to the Third Reich!"

"Not to mention death to everyone else, too," the Hatter crossed her arms across her chest, fixing Winston with a glare, "Winston, please listen to us, even just for a moment! We have a great deal of respect for you, but right now that respect is being tested to its limit!"

One of the Daleks rolled towards the Hatter, still carrying the small tray, "Would you like some tea?"

Suddenly, the Doctor slapped the tray to the ground, making everyone, save for the blonde, jump, "Stop this!" he demanded furiously, stepping closer to the Dalek, making it back away from the Hatter, "What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"We seek only to help you," the Dalek replied.

"To do what, exactly?" the Hatter angrily narrowed her eyes at it.

"To win the war".

"Really?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, " _Which_ war?"

"I do not understand".

"Oh, it's quite simple," the Time Lady began, her voice cold, "This war, the one against the Nazis?" she waved her hand around before pointing at the Daleks, "Or _your_ war? Your war against the rest of the Universe, against everything and anything _not_ Dalek?"

"I do not understand," the Dalek answered, "I am your solider".

"Oh, yeah?" the Doctor scoffed loudly, glancing at the Hatter, who mentally groaned, having a good idea of just what was going to happen next. He pointed at the Dalek, "Okay!" he looked around before catching sight of a large, heavy spanner leaning against a pillar, and grabbed it, stepping back towards the Dalek, "Okay, solider, defend yourself!" he smashed the spanner against the Dalek, making the humans gasp.

"Doctor, what the devil…?" Winston stared at him before his head snapped over to the Time Lady, "Hatter, do something! Stop him!" he ordered her.

"I agree, it is a little unorthodox, a baseball bat would be better," the Hatter admitted, eyeing the Dalek warily, concerned that the Dalek might just decide to reveal its true nature by killing the Doctor. That was a rather big risk in the plan, "But if it makes you see just what you're dealing with…" she trailed off, shrugging.

"You do not require tea?" the Dalek asked, but the Doctor continued bashing the spanner against it.

"Stop him!" Bracewell cried desperately, unable to get close enough to stop the Doctor, "Prime Minister, please!"

"Doctor, what the devil?" Winston shouted at him, but the Doctor simply ignored them, still beating the Dalek, "Please, these machines are _precious_!"

"Come on!" the Doctor urged the Dalek, hitting it again, "Fight back!" he grabbed the eyestalk, looking down it, "You want to, don't you? You know you do!"

"I must protest!" Bracewell tried again as the Doctor hit the Dalek once more.

"What are you waiting for? Look, you hate us!" he pattered his chest, "You want to kill us! Well, go on. Kill me. Kill me!"

He went to hit it again, but the Hatter jumped forward, grabbing his arm, "Sweetheart, that's enough!" she gently pulled him back, unable to watch any longer. She swallowed hard, casting the Doctor a worried look, but his eyes were fixed on the Dalek, all that rage and hatred for it written across his face. Once rage like that had a chance to break free, it wasn't easily bottled up again.

"Please desist from striking me," the Dalek responded, "I am your solider".

"You are our enemy!" the Doctor yelled, lunging forward, and saying each word as he hit the Dalek before stumbling back, breathing heavily, "And we are yours!" he glared down its eyestalk and grabbed the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly as he dropped the spanner, "You are everything we despise. The worst thing in all creation. We've defeated you time and time again! We've _defeated_ you! The Hatter built the weapons that destroyed _you_ during the Time War! _We_ sent _you_ back into the Void! _We_ saved the whole of reality from _you_!" he raised his chin higher, looking straight down the eyestalk, "I am the Doctor and she is the Hatter! And you are the Daleks!"

He jumped up and kicked the Dalek, sending it crashing into a table, right across the room.

The Dalek's head swivelled back around to look at them, "Correct," it agreed and rolled forward towards them, making both Time Lords tense, "Review testimony".

"'I am the Doctor and she is the Hatter!'" a recording of the Doctor's voice filled the room, "'And you are the Daleks!'"

"What do you mean by 'testimony?'" the Hatter asked, frowning deeply as she looked back and forth between the two Daleks, glancing at the Doctor, who looked just as confused as her, "What are you talking about?"

The second Dalek looked at the first, "Transmitting testimony now," it reported.

"Transmitting what, where?" the Doctor questioned, growing alarmed.

"No…" the Time Lady breathed, her eyes widening in horror as her snapped around to look at the Doctor, "This was there plan all along," she looked back to the Daleks, shaking her head, "I just can't work out _why_ …"

A moment past before…

"Testimony accepted!" the Daleks announced.

"Get back, all of you!" the Doctor called to everyone, pushing Amy back, holding the Hatter's hand tighter.

"Marines!" Winston shouted over to the laboratory door, "Marines, get in here!"

"No, don't!" the Hatter cried, but it was too late. Two marines ran into the room and the Daleks killed them both instantly, making Amy gasp.

"Stop it!" Bracewell tried to command them, "Stop it, please!" he moved closer to them, "What are you doing? You are my Ironsides!"

The First Dalek turned to him, "We are the Daleks".

"But I created you!" he exclaimed.

"No," the Dalek replied, and shot at Bracewell's hand, causing it to spark violently as it was revealed to be nothing more than a stump of wires and metal, "We created you!"

The Time Lords exchanged a look, slightly surprised by the discovery.

"Victory!" the Daleks cheered together, "Victory, victory!"

And with that, they teleported away.

"What just happened, Doctor, Hatter?" Amy asked quietly, staring at the spot that they had just vanished from.

The Doctor swallowed, his eyes wide, "We wanted to know what they wanted, what their plan was," he breathed, looking stunned, " _I_ was their plan".

He and the Hatter ran out of the room, still holding hands as Amy quickly followed after them, "Hey!"

They ran back through the corridors and into the storage room that they had landed the TARDIS in, "'Testimony accepted,'" the Doctor muttered thoughtfully as Amy hurried to catch up, "That's what they said. My Testimony!"

"Truth be told, it probably would have worked for either of us," the Time Lady remarked grimly, shaking her head, "It was just that you were the one who…"

"Lost my temper, yeah," he cut across her, giving her a guilty look, "And you tried to stop me".

She tightened her grip on his hand, giving him a stern look, "Don't feel guilty about this, sweetheart, because this was not your fault," she told him firmly, "One of us was bound to snap and they knew that, they played our hatred for them against us, manipulating us both until eventually, one of us snapped'.

"Yeah, don't beat yourself up because you were right," Amy added, pausing as the Doctor grabbed his key, and unlocked the TARDIS doors, "So, what do we do?" she asked them, looking excited as they glanced back at her, "Is this what we do now? Chase after them?"

"This is what _I_ …" the Hatter slapped his arm, making him jump and yelp, "Ouch!" he whirled around to look at her, his eyes wide as he rubbed the spot she had slapped, "What was that for?"

"If you think you're going on your own, then you have another thing coming, sweetheart," she informed him, crossing her arms across her chest, fixing him with a determined look.

He nodded quickly, because there was no way he was going to try fighting against that, not when she had that look on her face, "I meant to say ' _we_ ,'" he assured her, clearing his throat as he gave Amy a look, "But it's too dangerous for you, so you wait here".

Amy frowned at them, "What, so you mean I've got to stay safe down here in the middle of the London Blitz?" she raised her eyebrows at them as Winston joined them.

The Hatter gave her a small smile, shrugging, "Believe me, this is as safe as it's going to get today," she replied, giving her and Winston a little wave, before stepping inside the TARDIS, before pausing, and sticking her head out again, "Oh, and do keep a close watch on Professor Bracewell".

The Doctor gave them his own wave and followed her inside the TARDIS, closing the doors behind them. They raced up to the controls and quickly began dancing around the controls, dematerialising. Once they were off, they quickly set up the scanner, the Hatter typed something in, and slowly an image of the Daleks ship popped up on the screen.

"Bingo!" the Doctor grinned.

They hurried around the console, putting the coordinates in, and they soon landed on the Dalek ship.

The Hatter took a deep breath, raising her eyebrows at the Doctor, "Ready, sweetheart?"

He took her hand and kissed it, "With you at my side?" he gave her a wink, making her laugh, "Always, dear".

They walked down the steps of the console and over to the doors, throwing them open, and calmly walked out into a large, metal covered room with three Daleks swivelled around to look at them as they entered.

"How about that cuppa now, then?" the Doctor asked jokingly, smirking as the Hatter laughed again.

"Ooh, sounds lovely," the Time Lady added in the same tone as him, nudging his side, "Two sugars and a drop of milk in mine. I don't suppose there's any biscuits?" she raised her eyebrows teasingly.

"It is the Doctor and the Hatter!" one of the Daleks shouted.

"Exterminate!" a second Dalek cried, preparing to fire.

 _ **I just couldn't help but add that reference to Ace, it was just too good not to. Next chapter, what sarcastic endearment will the Doctor use on the Daleks? The Hatter performers a magic trick, and the Doctor still isn't over the Hatter's hats being his rival. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	6. Chapter 6 Victory of the Daleks, Part 2

_**Victory of the Daleks, Part 2**_

"Wait, wait, wait!" the Doctor called quickly, eyeing the Daleks, his eyes flickering worriedly to the Hatter beside him, desperately hoping his plan would work, "I wouldn't if I was you!" he reached inside his blazer and pulled out a small, circular yellow object with a red center, and held it up for them all to see, "TARDIS self-destruct, and you know what that means. Our…" the Time Lady gave him a look, " _My_ ship goes, you all go with it".

The Hater bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh or say something that would give the game away, since she really couldn't believe they were actually using a biscuit to fool the Daleks. Still, she supposed it was a bit better than a 'deadly jelly baby,' a line that she knew the Fourth Doctor had used once before.

"You would not use such a device," the second Dalek replied.

"Oh, yeah?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, giving them an almost challenging look, "Willing to risk everything just to find out?"

The first Dalek moved forward, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!" the Doctor shook his head, waving the biscuit around threateningly, "No scans. No nothing. One more move and I'll destroy us all, you got that?" the Dalek paused, seeming to be taking the threat seriously, "TARDIS bang-bang, Daleks _boom_!" the Dalek rolled back into its original position and the Time Lords exchanged a small smile, "Good boy".

"Now, then," the Time Lady turned on the spot and strolled calmly across to a control panel behind them, circling it slowly as she eyed how badly scuffed the metal was, and all the wires sticking out all over the place, "Dear me, what a mess," she tutted slightly mockingly, shooting the Daleks a look, "This ship has certainly seen better days. It's practically running on empty, just like you lot".

The Doctor eyed the Daleks carefully, not in the slightest bit comfortable with the idea of the Hatter being in the same room as them, "When we last met, you were at the end of your rope," he added to them, tucking the biscuit back inside his pocket, "Finished".

"One ship survived," the second Dalek informed them.

"Oh, yes, and then you fell back through time, right?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows, "Practically crippled, and slowly dying".

"We picked up a trace. One of the Progenitor devices".

"Progenitor?" the Doctor frowned, glancing at the Hatter to see that she looked just as confused as him, "What's that when it's at home?" he questioned.

"It is out past, and our future".

"Oh?" he nodded slowly, almost impressed as he exchanged a look with the blonde, "That's deep," he looked back to the Daleks, "That is deep for a Dalek".

"Exactly what does it mean, though?" the Hatter asked, narrowing her eyes, her mind racing with different possibilities, each one worse than the next.

"It contains pure Dalek DNA," the third Dalek answered, "Thousands were created. All were lost, save for one".

The Doctor frowned at them again, "Okay, but there's still one thing I don't get, though," he shook his head, "If you've got the Progenitor, why build Bracewell?"

"It was…necessary," the second Dalek seemed to hesitate.

"But why?"

"Wait…" the Hatter paused, thinking carefully before she gasped, her eyes lighting up, "Oh, of course!" she whirled around to look at the Doctor, "Just think about it, sweetheart".

He paused, thinking it over, when his eyes widened in realisation, "Oh I get it!" a broad smile spread across his face, "Oh, ho, this is rich!" he clapped his hands together, laughing as the Time Lady nodded along with him, "The Progenitor wouldn't recognise you, would it?" he looked back to the Daleks, "It saw you as impure. Your DNA is unrecognisable as Dalek".

"A solution was devised," the second Dalek stated.

"Ah, yes, which brings us back to the two of us," the Time Lady nodded, fixing the Daleks with a cold look, "All that business with the testimony, _our_ testimony," she sighed heavily, "So you devised a trap, one you knew we would fall into, all because you knew that the Progenitor would be able to recognise the two of us," she smiled bitterly, "The Daleks greatest enemies".

"It would accept our word," the Doctor continued, pacing as he spoke, "Our recognition of you," the first Dalek turned around to a control panel behind it, "No, no, no," he quickly pulled the biscuit out of his pocket, holding it up threateningly, "What are you doing?"

"Withdraw, Doctor and Hatter, or the city dies in flames," the third Dalek warned.

"Oh, stop it," the Hatter rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest, "This ship is practically destroyed, you don't have enough power to destroy London, _unless_ …" she trailed off suddenly, her eyes widening.

"Watch as the humans destroy themselves," the third Dalek replied, confirming the Time Lady's fear.

The first Dalek extended its sucker, placing it on one of the controls, and the entire ship began humming loudly. Slowly, the Doctor lowered his hand with the biscuit, and looked at the Hatter, to see her staring horrified at the Daleks.

"No, stop it!" she demanded urgently, taking a step forward, but the Doctor quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her back, "They've turned on all the lights in London, during the middle of the Blitz!"

His eyes widened and he looked back to the Daleks, "Turn those lights off now," he ordered, raising his voice as he held the biscuit up again, "Turn London off or I _swear_ I will use the TARDIS self-destruct!"

"Stalemate, Doctor," the second Dalek accused, not seeming to be concerned any longer about their threat, "Leave us and return to Earth".

"Oh, that's it?" he scoffed, "That's your great victory? You leave?"

"Extinction is not an option. We shall return to our own time and begin again".

"What, you think it's that simple?" the Hatter stared at them, before laughing, shaking her head, "There's no way we are just going to let you get away, not this time!"

A loud whooshing sound echoed throughout the room, followed by a soft thrumming sound. The Time Lords froze, listening intently.

"We have succeeded," the third Dalek announced as the doors behind them slide shut, "DNA reconstruction is complete".

The Daleks backed away from the doors, turning to watch as a red energy began running along and around the doors, just as they slid open again, sparking violently as white smoke billowed out.

"Observe, Doctor and Hatter, a new Dalek paradigm," the second Dalek called to them as they watched, horrified as a much larger, deadlier looking white Dalek emerged from the doors, coming to a stop before them as several other Daleks followed, each in a different colour, blue, orange, yellow, and lastly red. The Time Lords swallowed, exchanging a look as they grabbed each other's hands tightly, "The Progenitor has fulfilled our new destiny," the Dalek continued, rolling forward, "Behold, the restoration of the Daleks! The resurrection of the master race!"

"All hail the new Daleks!" the first Dalek cried, "All hail the new Daleks!"

The white Dalek eyestalk swirled across to look at the three older Daleks, "Yes, you are inferior!" it remarked, its voice deep and menacing.

"Yes".

"Then prepare".

"We are ready!" the three older Daleks replied in unison.

"Cleanse the unclean," the white Dalek ordered, and the blue Dalek turned towards the three older Daleks, "Total obliteration. Disintegrate!"

The blue Dalek fired on the second and third Dalek, completely destroying them, while the red Dalek dealt with the first Dalek. The Time Lords eyes widened, both stunned and horrified as they looked at each other.

"Blimey," the Doctor breathed, looking back to the Daleks, "What do you do to the ones who mess up?"

"And just when you think you've seen it all from the Daleks," the Hatter muttered, shaking her head, looking sickly pale.

The white Dalek turned to them, "You are the Doctor and the Hatter!" it rolled towards them and they stepped closer to each other, forcing themselves to quickly hide their shock, "You must be exterminated!"

The Doctor held up the biscuit, glaring down the white Daleks eyestalk, "Don't mess with me, darling," he warned coldly.

"Probably not the best time, but I'm glad you didn't use 'sweetheart,'" the Hatter commented quietly, glancing at him with a small smile, despite the situation.

He returned the smile and gave her a wink. Ever since the Hatter had become fond of calling him by the endearment centuries ago, it had always held a special place in his hearts. Only she called him by it, no one else, and he most certainly wouldn't use it, even sarcastically, on the Daleks.

"We are the paradigm of a new Dalek race," the white Dalek informed them, ignoring there banter, "Scientist, Strategist, Drone, Eternal, and the Supreme".

"Which would be you, I'm guessing," the Doctor raised his eyebrows at the white Dalek, gesturing towards it, "Well, you know, nice paint job," he glanced at the Hatter, who was giving him an amused look, "I'd be feeling pretty swish if I looked like you. Pretty _supreme_ ".

The Time Lady coughed and nudged his side, "I think you could have left that last part off".

He pouted slightly, "Too much?"

"Just a little bit, yeah," she nodded, patting his shoulder sympathetically before fixing the Daleks a careful look, "But never mind that, because we need to figure out what to do now?"

"Right," he nodded, getting back on topic as he eyed the Daleks, "Either you turn off your clever machine, or we'll blow you and your new paradigm into eternity".

"And yourself," the white Dalek replied, his eyestalk moving around to rest on the Hatter, making both Time Lords tense, "And the Hatter".

The Hatter lifted her chin, glaring down the eyestalk, "If my death means destroying you lot, then fine," she flashed them a bright smile, "If I'm going to die, let me die knowing I'm taking you with me".

The Doctor swallowed thickly, feeling ill just hearing those words leave her mouth, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel strangely reassured, "Together," he added firmly, tightening his grip on her hand as he looked back to the Daleks, "Consider it an occupational hazard".

"Scans reveal nothing!" the blue Dalek suddenly announced, rolling forward, "TARDIS self-destruct device non-existent".

"Alright!" the Doctor bit into the biscuit as the Time Lady sighed, looking away from him as crumbs flew down his front, "It's a Jammy Dodger, but we were promised tea!"

"Oh, I bet he's the strategist Dalek," the Time Lady groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

An alarm began sounding throughout the room and the yellow Dalek moved over to one of the control panels, "Alert!" it called to the others, "Unidentified projectile approaching," the Time Lords ran over to a second control panel behind them, looking at the scanner to see a small, red dot moving around the screen, "Correction, multiple projectiles!"

"Brilliant!" the Hatter laughed, exchanging a broad smile with the Doctor.

The white Dalek turned to them, "What have the humans done?" it demanded.

"We don't know," the Doctor told them, trying to supress his smile.

"Explain, explain, explain!"

"Danny Boy to the Time Lords!" a man's voice came over the comm., echoing around the room as the Time Lords heads snapped up, "Danny Boy to the Time Lords. Are you receiving me? Over".

"Oh, ho!" the Doctor grinned, laughing as he and the blonde straightened from the controls, and he grabbed her hand, twirling around on the spot, "Winston, you beauty!"

"Danny Boy to the Time Lords! Come in. Over".

"Hearing you loud and clear, Danny Boy!" the Hatter called to him, laughing again in delight as they could hear what sounded like planes coming from outside. The Daleks all began moving across to their control panel, forcing the Time Lords back into the middle of the room, "See that big dish right on the side of the ship, blow it up!" she ordered, "Over!"

The sound of laser's being fired outside sounded, followed by the sound of metal being hit.

"Exterminate the Time Lords!" the white Dalek commanded, turning around to look at them.

The Doctor and the Hatter, still holding hands, raced over to the TARDIS, ducking as the Daleks began firing on them, just missing the Time Lady's hat as they reached the time machine, and threw the doors open, running inside. They paused for a moment, taking a moment to catch their breath before running up the stairs of the console, quickly setting to work on the controls.

They brought up the transmission on the controls, listening as the pilots continued to attack the Daleks, only for their attack to be vain due to the protective shields around the ship. The Time Lady winced as two of the pilots were hit and destroyed, closing her eyes sadly.

"Danny Boy to the Time Lords…only me left now," the pilot came over the comm. link in the console room, "Anything you can do, sir, ma'am? Over".

The Time Lords looked at each other, "There might be a way…" the blonde began slowly, tilting her head thoughtfully, "But we'll only have one shot".

He flashed her a smile and grabbed a small microphone, watching her as she began moving around the console, quickly typing something into the controls, "The Doctor to Danny Boy…" he called into the microphone, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. We can disrupt the Daleks shields, but not for long…"

"Less than a minute," the Hatter added quickly, not looking up, frowning slightly, "Possibly even less, depending on just how fast these new boys are".

"Got that?" he continued, nodding to her, "Over".

"Good show!" the pilot replied, actually sounding cheerful, "Get to it. Over".

The Time Lady moved around to the Doctor, "It's ready," the Doctor lowered the microphone, putting it between them, "Do it now, Danny Boy! Over".

"I'm going in. Wish me luck. Over".

The Doctor lowered the microphone, setting it back on the controls as he and the Time Lady began dancing around the controls, pulling levers and hitting buttons quickly, just trying to give the pilot more time as the shields around the Daleks ship faded.

"Direct hit!" the pilot announced after a moment, "Over".

"Yes!" the Time Lords cried joyfully, grabbing each other as the Doctor picked the Hatter up, spinning them around on the spot, before kissing her. Slowly, he settled her back on her feet, and reluctantly ended the kiss, and she quickly straightened her hat, having almost toppled off in there excitement.

"What happened to focusing?" she cleared her throat, a blush spreading across her face as she gave him a mock scolding look.

"I was focusing, dear," he replied, grinning and winking at her, "Only it was on you, like usual".

She stared at him for a moment before laughing, nudging his side, "Oh, you cheeky thing," she smiled broadly, placing a kiss on his cheek, "Have I ever mentioned how much I approve of cheekiness, sweetheart?" she raised her eyebrows up at him, grabbing one of his bracers and absently twisting it.

"I think you might have once or twice…" he leaned closer to her, his eyes flickering back down to her lips…

"Danny Boy to the Time Lords," the pilots voice sounded through the room, making them both jump, having almost forgotten that they were currently fighting the Daleks, "Going in for another attack. Over".

The Doctor cleared his throat and grabbed the microphone again, "The Doctor to Danny Boy…" he called over it once more, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. Destroy this ship! Over".

"What about you and the Hatter?"

"Oh, we'll be fine, I assure you," the Hatter smiled, leaning closer to the microphone, exchanging a look with the Doctor.

Suddenly, the white Dalek appeared on the circular scanner across the room, close to the doors, "Doctor and Hatter!" it said over the link, making them both whirl around to look, "Call off your attack".

"Ah ha, what?" the Doctor scoffed, smirking at the screen as he moved closer towards it, "And let you scuttle off back to the future? No fear," he glared at it, "This is the end for you. The _final end_ ".

"Call of the attack, or we will destroy the Earth".

"Oh, would you please stop it?" the Time Lady sighed, throwing the Dalek an annoyed look as she stepped up beside the Doctor, "You don't have enough power, you've lost… _again_ ".

"Bracewell is a bomb".

The Hatter froze, her eyes widening as she took a small step back. After all, it would make perfect sense that the Daleks would have turned Bracewell into a bomb, just in case anything like this was to happen.

The Doctor hesitated, looking unsure himself, "You're bluffing," he shook his head, glaring at it again, "Deception's second nature to you. There isn't a sincere bone in your body…" he frowned, glancing at the Hatter, "…there _isn't_ a bone in your body!"

"No, I don't think they are, sweetheart," the Time Lady breathed, swallowing hard as she eyed the Dalek, "After all, it would be the perfect backup plan…"

"His power is derived from an Oblivion Continuum," the Dalek informed them, "Call off your attack, or we will detonate the android".

"No!" the Doctor exclaimed, turning away from the scanner as the Hatter closed her eyes tightly, "This is our best chance ever," he moved back to the console and grabbed scanner hanging above the controls as the Time Lady Joined him, "The last of the Daleks. We can rid the Universe of you, once and for all!"

"Then do it. But we will shatter the planet below. The Earth will die screaming!"

The Hatter sighed heavily, her hand moving to fiddle with her bow tie, "Regardless what choice we make, destroy the Earth or the Daleks, it's still genocide," she murmured, giving the Doctor a careful look, "Unless we choose to save the Earth, thus allowing the Daleks to escape".

The Doctor looked back to the scanner, "You'll be stronger than ever," he said quietly, "A new race of Daleks".

"Then choose, Time Lords! Destroy the Daleks or save the Earth. Begin countdown of the Oblivion Continuum. Choose, choose!"

The link ended and the Time Lords looked at each other grimly, "There's only one choice we can make, Doctor," the Time Lady told him softly, taking a deep breath as she spoke.

"What about everything they did to your children? To our families?"

"I gave up on revenge a long time ago, sweetheart," she gave him a small, sad smile, taking his hand, and holding it tightly, "Revenge is a waste of time, anyway. All it does is blind you to all the good still left around you," she gave him a pointed look, making sure he knew that she was referring to him, "And while we might not have been able to save our people from the Daleks, we can save the human race from them…well, at least during this time period".

"You're right," he gave her his own sad smile, squeezing her hand, "I just wanted to hear you say it," he took a deep breath and grabbed the microphone, "The Doctor to Danny Boy…" he called over it, "The Doctor to Danny Boy. Withdraw".

"Say again, sir," the pilot came over, "Over".

"Withdraw! Return to Earth. Over and out!"

"But sir…"

"There's no time," the Doctor cut across him, "You have to return to Earth now. Over".

He placed the microphone back down and they set to work on the controls, rushing around as they pulled levers and hit buttons, materialising back inside the storage room on Earth. They quickly ran down the stairs, throwing the TARDIS doors open, and bolted out, running down a corridor, and into the Map Room.

Bracewell looked up as they entered, his eyes widening when the Doctor ran straight up to him, and punched him, sending him sprawling on his back across the floor as people gasped. The Doctor wince loudly, shaking his hand around as the Hatter fell to her knees beside Bracewell.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, looking appalled as she turned around to stare at them.

"Ow!" the Doctor groaned, still shaking his hand around, "Sorry, Professor, you're a bomb!" he looked down to the man thrashing around slightly on the ground as the Time Lady tried to calm him, "An inconceivable massive Dalek bomb!"

"Doctor, that's really not going to help calming him down!" the Hatter sighed heavily, throwing him a look over her shoulder, "You couldn't have found some other way to break it to him?"

"What?" Bracewell gasped.

The Doctor went to open his mouth, but quickly stopped at the look the Time Lady gave him. She fixed a comforting smile to her face as she gently grasped Bracewell's arm, "Just take a few deep breaths, Professor," she told him gently, "I know it's a lot to take in, but there's something called an Oblivion Continuum inside you. Now, that's a captures wormhole that provides perpetual power".

"Detonate that, and the Earth will bleed through into another dimension," the Doctor finished, pulling his sonic screwdriver from his blazer, and kneeling beside the Hatter.

"I do apologise for this," the blonde added as she grabbed Bracewell's shirt, ripping it open, and sending the buttons flying, "I assure you, I don't make a habit of ripping strange men's shirts open," she continued, trying use humour to calm the poor panicking man down, giving him a cheeky wink, "I am a married woman, after all".

"I know it's exciting, but keep down!" the Doctor flashed his sonic at the Bracewell's chest and his skin moved away to reveal the metal chest beneath with a large circular panel right in the center of his chest, divided into five sections, glowing blue…but as they watched, one of the sections began to turn yellow.

Amy looked urgently from the Time Lords to Bracewell, "Well?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," the Doctor shook his head, checking the results on his sonic, "Never seen one up close before".

"I have," the Hatter leaned closer to the panel, sighing, "Though, it was only a shell at the time, and it wasn't inside a living person, either".

"So, what, they've wired him up to detonate?" Amy asked them, frowning.

"Oh, no, not wired him up!" the Doctor replied, glancing at her, "He is a bomb. Walking, talking…" he made an exploding sound effect, waving his hands around, "Exploding! The moment that flashes red," he pointed to the circular panel in Bracewell's chest.

"There's…a blue wire or something you have to cut, isn't there? There's always a blue wire…" the Doctor stood, nodding to Amy, "…or a red one".

He threw her an exasperated look, "You're not helping!"

"It's incredible," Winston remarked, shaking his head, "He talked to us about his memories. The Great War…"

The Doctor began pacing, fiddling with his sonic as the Hatter tried keeping Bracewell calm, knowing that it might buy them a bit more time, "Someone else's stolen thoughts," he muttered, "Implanted in a positronic brain".

"Professor, tell us about your life," the Hatter encouraged him quickly, giving the man a comforting smile as the Doctor knelt beside her, "Come on, you've got to have a good story or two!"

"Hatter, I really don't think this is the time…" Bracewell began.

"Tell us, and prove you're human," the Doctor said to him gently, catching on to what she was doing, "Tell us everything".

The second section on the chest panel began turning yellow, quickly darkening, while the first section glowed red.

"My family ran the Post Office. It's a little place just near the abbey, just by the ash trees. There used to be eight trees but…but there was a storm…"

"What about your parents?" the Time Lady questioned, her eyes flickering worriedly down to the steadily darkening section on his chest, trying hard to keep her voice calm and steady.

"Come on!" the Doctor urged, "Tell us!"

"Good people," Bracewell told them, "Kind people. They…they died," a small frown crossed his face, "Scarlet fever".

"What was that like? How did it feel?"

"Please…" he practically begged, his eyes filling with tears.

"How did it make you feel, Edwin? Tell us. Tell us now!"

"It hurt," he gasped painfully, closing his eyes tightly, "It hurt, Doctor, it hurt so badly…" he took a deep, shuddering breath as the Hatter took his hand, grasping it tightly, just trying to offer him some comfort, "It was like a wound…" the second section turned red, and the third began turning yellow, "I…it was worse than a wound. Like I'd been emptied out. There was nothing left".

"Good," the Doctor nodded quickly, "Remember it now, Edwin! The ash trees by the Post Office and your Mum and Dad, and losing them, and the men in the trenches you saw die! _Remember_ it! _Feel_ it! You _feel_ it because you're _human_!" the third section turned red, "You're not like them! You're not like the Daleks!"

"It hurts, Doctor," he cried, "It hurts so much!"

"I know it does, and that's good!" the Hatter smiled broadly at him, her eye flickering back down the panel in his chest, "You've got to embrace that pain!"

The fourth section turned yellow, quickly beginning to darken.

"That means you're alive!" the Doctor continued, growing even more frantic, "They cannot explode that bomb because you're a human being! You are flesh and blood!" the Hatter's mind raced, trying to think of another approach, when an idea slowly came to her. The thing that the Daleks would never understand, the thing that they could never _feel_ …, "They cannot explode that bomb!" he tried desperately, "Believe it! You are Professor Edwin Bracewell, and you, my friend, are a human being!" the fourth section turned red and fifth began turning yellow. He looked at the Hatter fearfully, "It's not working…" he breathed, "I can't stop it!"

"What's the thing that the Daleks will never understand, sweetheart?" the Hatter looked at him, breaking into a broad smile as she realised exactly what they needed. Pain and humanity wasn't enough, Bracewell needed to feel love, he needed that emotion, but above all, that was the one emotion that the Daleks were completely incapable of feeling and of understanding. While humanity was also a emotion they would never be able to feel, on some level they had a basic understanding of it, otherwise they wouldn't be able to predict what humans would do, while love was simply impossible for them to ever understand, "Love!" she started growing excited as she looked down to Bracewell, "Have you ever been in love, Edwin?" she asked him, masking her excitement with an secretive tone, "Someone you know you shouldn't, but you do anyway".

"I'm sorry…" Bracewell blinked up at her.

The last panel paused.

"Oh, come, now," she smiled down at him, giving him a wink, "A clever man like you, I bet there's been a woman out there who has caught your eye. It hurts, though, doesn't it?" she gave him a sympathetic look, "Loving someone so deeply, so completely that you would do anything for them, because when we allow ourselves to open our hearts like that, we give that other person the ability to hurt us in ways you never thought imaginable, and yet…" her smile grew as her eyes drifted across to the Doctor, who was staring at her with wide eyes, as if he had never seen her before, "You wouldn't want it any other way, because while love can be so painful, it can also be so beautiful. Just to hear them laugh or see them smiling, that makes everything worth it".

A feint blush crossed Bracewell's face as he avoided her eyes, "I really shouldn't talk about her," he murmured.

"Oh?" Amy knelt on the other side of Bracewell, raising her eyebrows teasingly down at the man, "There's a _her_ ".

The last section turned blue.

"What was her name?" the Doctor asked, taking the Hatter's hand, and giving him a soft smile.

"Dorabella," Bracewell breathed, his face softening, just thinking about her.

The forth section turned blue.

"Dorabella?" Amy and the Time Lady gave him a sharp look, and he quickly added, "It's a lovely name, it's a beautiful name".

"What was she like, Edwin?" Amy questioned, looking down to him.

He smiled broadly, "Oh…such a smile," he sighed lovingly as the third section faded to blue, "And her eyes…her eyes were so blue…almost violet. Like the last touch sunset on the edge of the world…" the second section turned blue, "…Dorabella…" and with that, the bomb was completely defused.

The Doctor laughed, breaking into a wide smile, "Welcome to the human race!" he looked over to Winston, clicking his finger at him, "You're brilliant…" down to Bracewell, "You're brilliant…" across to Amy, "You're brilliant…" and he spun on his knees to face the Hatter, waving his hands around at her, for a moment appearing unable to actually think of the words, "And you…that was…"

The Hatter grinned and grabbed his chin, kissing him quickly, "I'm not sure if I could have done that without you, sweetheart".

"What do you mean?" he blinked, looking confused.

"Well, I've only ever been in love with you, and had I never meet and fallen in love with you, I'm not completely sure I would have been able to say any of that".

"I don't know about that," he shook his head, smiling at her softly as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, being careful not to nudge her hat, knowing that she wouldn't be happy with him if he did, "One of the reasons I fell in love with you is because of how compassionate you've always been. I think what you said was mostly down to you, dear".

She laughed, shaking her head, "You are such a sweetheart, Doctor," she remarked fondly.

He grinned at her when he suddenly remembered something, "The Daleks!" he jumped to his feet, quickly helping the Hatter to stand, "We've got to stop them!"

They began running out of the room, "Wait, Doctor and Hatter!" Bracewell called urgently to them, pulling himself into a sitting position, "Wait…wait!" they paused and looked back to him, watching as he shook his head, "It's too late," they stepped closer to him, frowning, "Gone. They've gone".

"No, no, no!" the Doctor shouted, looking up at the ceiling as the Hatter pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing heavily, "They can't! They can't have got away from us again!"

"No, I can feel it," he reached up to straighten his glasses, "My mind is clear. The Daleks have gone".

The Doctor fell against a pole beside him, leaning heavily against it, his shoulders slumped as the Hatter stepped closer to him, and wrapped her arm around, trying to comfort him. She had known this would probably happen, that the Daleks would manage to get away, but strangely enough she didn't feel as disappointed about it as she expected. After all, they had managed to save the Earth and the human race. She supposed that you just couldn't win everything.

"It's okay," Amy smiled brightly at them, stepping closer to them, "You did it. You stopped the bomb," she frowned when the Doctor didn't respond, "Doctor?"

"We had a choice," the Doctor breathed, shaking his head, "And they _knew_ we'd choose the Earth. The Daleks have won," he swallowed, looking at the Hatter, who gave him a comforting smile, "They beat us. They've won".

"They've won _this_ time, but we'll find them again," the Hatter rubbed his arm, giving him a reassuring look, "They always turn up again. This isn't the end, sweetheart, we will have the chance to stop them again, and next time we will…" she paused, tilting her head with a small sigh, "Or, at the very least, we will try very hard to".

"You two saved the Earth," Amy nodded along with the Time Lady, still smiling brightly at the Doctor as she gave him a pointed look, "Not too shabby, is it?" he looked over to Winston and the rest of the humans, who smiled back at him, before glancing at the Hatter, who nudged his side gently, "Is it?"

"No…" he slowly broke into a smile of his own, straightening almost proudly, "It's not too shabby," he agreed.

"It's a brilliant achievement, my dear friends," Winston stepped forward, reaching inside his pocket, and withdrawing a cigar, "Here, have a cigar," he tried offering it to the Doctor.

The Doctor waved his hand at him, shaking his head, "No…" he said quietly, happily wrapping an arm around the Hatter's waist.

…

It was the next morning by the time the Doctor and the Hatter had finished going over Bracewell's laboratory, and as they strolled into the Map Room, they heard Winston ask Amy as they stood before the table covered with the map, "Where's the Doctor and the Hatter?"

"Tying up loose ends," the Doctor called brightly, walking towards them, his arm linked with the blonde, "We've taken out all the alien tech Bracewell put in".

"Won't you reconsider?" Winston tried, turning to them, "Those Spitfires would win me the war in twenty four hours".

"And that's the very reason why you can't have them, Winston," the Hatter replied, waggling a mock scolding finger at him, but she did have to admire his determination.

The Doctor picked up a tea cup from the table, leaning against it, and took a sip, watching Winston in amusement.

"But why not? Why can't we put an end to all this misery?"

"The Universe is never as simple as that," she shook her head, giving him a sympathetic smile, "There's going to be dark days, days that will test you to your very limit, but you can do it. You _know_ you can, Winston, you just have to have more faith in yourself".

"Stay with us, and help us win through! The world needs you two".

The Doctor shook his head, giving Winston a small smile, "The world doesn't need us".

He frowned at them, "No?"

"The world's got Winston Spencer Churchill!" the Time Lords cheered in unison, giving him the Victory sign.

Winston chuckled, smiling broadly at them, "It's been a pleasure, you two, as always," he told them, seeming a bit more cheerful.

"Too right," the Doctor laughed, pulling him in for a hug, not noticing at all that as they hugged, Winston carefully reached inside his pocket, and grabbed his TARDIS key.

The Hatter shook her head fondly, having caught just what Winston had done, and glanced at Amy, who smiled back at her, having seen it to.

"Goodbye, Doctor," Winston said to him, patting his back.

"Oh, shall we say adieu?"

"Indeed," Winston pulled back and hugged the Hatter, "Hatter, take care".

"Believe me, Winston, I'm in brilliant hands," the Hatter grinned cheekily as they pulled back, nodding to the Doctor beside her, "After all, I do have _my_ Doctor on hand".

"Oh, is that the only reason you married me?" the Doctor gasped in mock outrage, his hand flying to clutch at his chest.

She raised her eyebrows at him, almost seeming to be considering him, "That, and you do have a rather adorable pout that I do like to see when I tease you," she remarked, trying hard not to smile.

"Well, that's a bit better," he smiled broadly, kissing her cheek, "I'd like to see one of your hats pout," he added smugly, raising his chin.

"Still going on about that one comment I made a few years ago, are we?"

A blush spread across his face and he looked away, "No…" he mumbled, making her laugh.

Winston shook his head at their antics and turned to Amy, holding out his hand towards her, "Goodbye, Miss Pond".

Amy laughed, taking his offered hand, "It's…it's been amazing," she told him, running her hands through her hair, "Meeting you".

"I'm sure it has!" Winston agreed.

The red head kissed his cheek and watched as he began heading for the door. The Hatter held up a finger behind the Doctor's back, waiting until the Doctor had taken another sip of tea, before giving Amy a nod, "Oi, Churchill!" she called, giving him a stern look as he turned back to look at them, and held out her hand, "Tardis key…" the Doctor almost chocked on his tea, "…the one you just took from the Doctor".

The Doctor quickly started patting his pockets for his key, looking wide eyed as the Hatter burst out laughing at the look on his face, struggling to compose herself as she pattered his back.

"Oh, she's good," Winston chuckled, "As sharp as a pin," he stepped back over to them and reached inside his pocket for the key, before frowning, "But where…"

"You mean this?" the Hatter cleared her throat, raising her eyebrows as she reached up to beside Winston's right ear, and with a dramatic flourish of her wrist, stepped back with the key held in her hand, "Never try to outsmart a member of the Prydonian Chapter," she smirked slyly and tapped the side of her nose, "We were noted for being the most devious and cunning of the lot on Gallifrey. We were so known for it, in fact, there used to be a saying that 'One could not take their eyes of a Prydonian for a second,'" she glanced at the Doctor, casting his a teasing look, "Though, those traits are a bit stronger in some then in others".

"I'm cunning and devious!" the Doctor exclaimed, still looking a little shocked that Winston had managed to get his key.

"Oh, never mind, sweetheart," she laughed, patting his arm soothingly, "It's been a very stressful day, I'm sure you're just tired".

"As cheeky as ever, Hatter," Winston gave her an almost approving look, sticking a cigar in his mouth, and lighting it. He pointed at them, "KBO!"

As he walked away, the Doctor held out his hand to the Time Lady, "Key, dear?"

The blonde gave him a look, "Do you think you can keep it in your pocket this time, sweetheart?" she asked innocently.

"Do you want me to tickle you in front of all these people?"

She sighed heavily, giving him a glare, before handing the key back to him as Amy laughed at the look on her face, "Low blow, Doctor".

….

As the Time Lords and Amy entered Bracewell's laboratory, they spotted the man himself standing with his back to the room, obviously having been waiting for them.

"I've been expecting you," he sighed heavily, the arm that had been badly damaged by the Dalek resting against his chest with a black glove covering it, "I knew this moment had to come".

"Moment?" the Doctor repeated, frowning as he glanced at the Hatter.

"It's time to deactivate me," he replied, slowly turning around to face them, looking grimly resigned.

"Is it?" he looked at Amy and the Time Lady, who gave him a pointed look, the Hatter trying hard not to smile, "Oh…er…yeah".

"You have no choice. I'm Dalek technology. Can't allow me to go pottering around down here where I have no business".

"No, you're dead right, Professor. A hundred percent right…" he gestured between himself and the girls, "And by the time we get back here in, what…"

"Oh, about ten minutes?" the Hatter suggested, still struggling not to smile.

"More like fifteen," Amy corrected, and the Time Lords nodded to her.

"Fifteen minutes, yeah," the Doctor looked back to Bracewell, "That's exactly what we're going to do. You are going to be _so_ deactivated. It's going to be like you've never even been…activated".

"Yeah," the red head agreed quickly.

"Fifteen minutes?" Bracewell frowned slightly.

"Actually, it's probably more like twenty, twenty five minutes," the Hatter cut in, glancing at Amy and the Doctor, "You know, we've got all that important stuff we've got to do, _very_ urgent stuff…"

"Yes!" Amy pointed at her.

"…we've got to see to," the Doctor continued, waving his hand around as he looked back over to Bracewell, who was looking a little confused, "The…the…see?"

"Very well," Bracewell took a deep breath, nodding, "I shall wait here and prepare myself".

Amy leaned closer to the Time Lords, "That Dalek tech a bit slow on the uptake," she remarked quietly before raising her voice back to normal, "That thing we've got to do, going to take half an hour, realistically, isn't it?"

"Oh, very easily," the Hatter smiled, giving Bracewell a pointed look, "So, you just be good and don't go running off, and most certainly don't go looking for that lovely little Post Office with those seven ash trees, or that girl," she pretend to forget the girls name, "What was her name again…?"

Bracewell's eyes widened slightly, starting to catch on, "Dorabella…"

"Dorabella," the Doctor leaned closer to him, giving him a mock stern look, "On no account go looking for her," he smiled at him, "Mind you, you can get a lot done in half an hour".

He stared at them for a moment when it finally hit him, and he broke into a wide smile, "Thank you!" he laughed, looking delighted as the Time Lords and Amy laughed along with him, "Thank you!"

"And don't you dare not tell that girl how you feel, Bracewell," the Hatter warned, pointing sternly at him, "No matter how frightening it might be, the possibility of what you might gain is so much bigger".

"Oh, I will! I will!"

The Doctor grinned and rubbed his hands together, before taking the Hatter's hand, "Come along, Pond".

They left the room, Amy hurrying after them, and off down the corridor, heading back into the storage room.

"So, you have enemies, then?" Amy commented behind them as they entered the storage room, moving towards the TARDIS.

"Don't most people?" the Time Lady shrugged, glancing back to her.

"Yeah, but mine's the woman outside Budgens with the mental Jack Russell," she replied, moving to lean against the TARDIS doors as the Time Lords looked at her, "You've got, like, you know…" she made a gesture with her hands, "Archenemies".

The Doctor frowned slightly, never having exactly thought about it that way as he leaned against the TARDIS, pulling the Time Lady closer to him, "Suppose so," he agreed after a moment.

"Well, that's a cheerful thought," the Hatter sighed, shaking her head.

"And here's me thinking we'd just be running through time, being daft and fixing stuff. But no, it's dangerous".

"I did warn you," the blonde gently reminded her, thinking about what she had said to her on Star Ship UK. She eyed her carefully, looking slightly concerned, "And we won't always be able to protect you".

The Doctor glanced at Amy, raising his eyebrows, "Is that a problem?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Amy looked back to them, smiling slowly before her smile faded, "You're worried about the Daleks".

"We're always worried about the Daleks," he replied heavily, exchanging a look with the Time Lady.

"It'll take time, though, won't it?" she asked, frowning, "I mean, there's still not many of them. They'll need a while to build themselves up".

"Even _one_ Dalek could destroy the Earth, Amelia," the Hatter told him grimly, shaking her head, "But it's not just them…"

"There's something else," the Doctor agreed, turning around and slipping the TARDIS key in the lock, before pausing, "Something we've forgotten...or rather _you_ have," he fixed Amy with a very serious look.

She blinked, looking confused, "Me?"

"Amy, you didn't _recognise_ them," the Time Lady looked at her closely, tilting her head, "You didn't know who they were".

"And you should have done," he finished, nodding, "You should".

He opened the TARDIS doors, letting the Hatter in first, before following close behind. Amy stared after them, very confused and slightly fearful before she slowly followed after them, closing the door behind her.

 _ **Ooh, I can't wait for the next chapter, so much flirting/banter, I actually had to write an angst filled one-shot about Nine just to try and counter balance all the flirting. So, aside from flirting, next chapter we get to see Amy's thoughts about the Doctor, the Doctor is wary of River, and the Hatter gets a surprise hug and kiss. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	7. Chapter 7 The Time of Angels, Part 1

_**The Time of Angels, Part 1.**_

The Doctor and the Hatter strolled through the museum set in the middle of a very large, medieval church, there arms linked together as they made their way past several glass cases with old artefacts inside, pointing out a few as they passed. The Time Lady had even pulled out a white paper bag full of jelly baby's, happily snacking on them as if the whole thing was like watching a movie.

"Sure you don't want one, Amy?" the blonde asked, offering the bag back towards Amy, who was trailing behind them with a mildly annoyed look on her face. She had been sulking ever since they arrived, having wanted to see a planet, "No one could possibly eat a jelly baby with a frown," she continued with a grin.

"Wrong!" the Doctor suddenly shouted, pointing to an artefact in a case as they passed it.

"So is that one," the Hatter nodded across to another object within the same case, popping another sweet into her mouth, "Why is it that they always get the dates wrong?" she shook her head, sounding slightly amused, "Still, they did get the location correct".

They moved further through the church, the Doctor throwing the Time Lady a bright smile, "I love museums," he remarked happily, "Did I ever tell you about the time…"

"You hid inside a Daleks case?" she finished, making him pout slightly, "Yes, sweetheart, you've told me that story many times before," she laughed, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek.

"Yeah, great," Amy sighed loudly from behind them, rolling her eyes, having already learnt that unless she cut them off quickly, they would just end up turning into a flirting, banter filled fight, "Can we go to a planet now?" they moved across to another case, ducking slightly to get a closer look inside, "Big spaceship, Chuchill's bunker…you promised me a planet next," she threw the blonde a pointed look.

The Doctor glanced up at her, shaking his head, "Amy, this isn't any old asteroid," he informed her as they moved on to another case, "It's the Delerium Archive, the final resting place of the Headless Monks".

"It also happens to be the biggest museum _ever_ ," the Hatter added, a note of excitement entering her voice, despite most of her past trips going to museums ended with her leaving in hysterical laughter after finding a large portion of the artefacts incorrectly dated or labelled, "Ooh, that one's mine!" she cheered, pointing over to a circular, metal object in a nearby case.

"What is it?" he asked curiously, looking over towards it.

"I have no idea, I just recognise the design," she replied, shrugging slightly, her happiness of seeing something of her past not in the slightest bit effected by her lack of knowledge, "I'm sure it was supposed to be something at one point, but I probably never got around to actually doing anything with it, and just left it behind somewhere," she tilted her head thoughtfully, "It was during my anything circular is better phase, which also went along with my shiny is a must phase"

"Second body?"

She flashed him a fond smile, nudging his side lightly, "You know me so well, sweetheart".

Amy sighed heavily again, catching there attention, "You've got a time machine," she pointed out as they moved on to another case, "What do you need museums for?"

"Wrong!" the Doctor called, pointing across to an object in a case, sounding annoyed as they stepped over towards it, "Very wrong! Ooh, one of mine!" another object caught his eye and they moved across to another case, "Oh, and one of ours," he gestured between himself and the Time Lady, looking quite proud of himself as he nodded over to another object.

"Oh, I see," Amy commented, casting them both a teasing look, "It's how you keep score".

The Hatter opened her mouth to reply, when something caught her eye in the next case over that made her eyes widen, her mouth suddenly going dry. Hardly seeming to even realise what she was doing, she walked over to the case, circling it slowly, her eyes fixed on the large box within the display, covered with dust and stone, and symbols etched into the very metal along the side of the box.

"Doctor…" she breathed, her eyes fixed on the symbols.

Immediately, the Doctor felt alarm and worry run through him, and he quickly left the case he had been examining, hurrying to her side, taking her hand. He followed her gaze and his own eyes widened, taking in the symbols.

Amy, who hadn't notice there reaction, joined them, looking down at the box from the other side of the case, "Oh great, an old box," she muttered, obviously not impressed as she looked through the glass.

"It's from an old star liners," the Hatter told her, her eyes still fixed on the symbols, "It's called a Home Box".

"What's a Home box?"

"Like a black box on a plane, except it homes," the Doctor explained, pointing down to the box through the glass as Amy put her elbow on the glass, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, "Anything happens to the ship, the Home Box flies home with all the flight data".

"So?" she sighed, shaking her head, not seeing what was so special about it.

"See those symbols engraved in the metal?" the Time Lady glanced across to her, tracing the pattern of the symbols along the top of the glass absently with her finger tip. The Doctor couldn't help but stare at her as she did so, swallowing slightly, "That's not just ordinary writing," she continued, a small smile spreading across her face, "That's Old High Gallifreyan. The lost language of the Time Lords," she paused, "Well, almost lost, save for the Doctor and I, Martha Jones, and one or two of my past companions".

She still recalled vividly how the Doctor had practically begged her to learn Old High Gallifreyan with him during their school years. He had always been far more interested in languages then she had been, not to mention more talented in that department, but she simply couldn't refuse when he made the argument that she would be able to read the ancient volumes housed within her families House that were written completely in the ancient language. Not to mention it allowed them to pass on messages to each other without anyone else being able to read what they had written, which had come in handy quite a bit, especially during the time that the Doctor had begun making his plans to leave Gallifrey with Susan.

"Anyway," the Doctor cleared his throat, forcing himself to pull his eyes away from where she was still tracing the symbols. He was almost positive she was doing it on purpose just to distract him, "There were days, there were many days," he looked back to Amy, his tone serious, "These words could burn stars and raise up empires, and topple gods".

"What does this say?" Amy questioned, suddenly seeming excited.

The Hatter coughed, struggling to hold back a laugh as the Doctor grimaced slightly, "'Hello, sweetie and honeykins,'" she replied, breaking to a highly amused smile, "Well, obviously, these _exact_ words wouldn't burn stars, topple gods, or even raise up empires".

"I don't know…" the Doctor shot her a sideways, teasing look, "…maybe 'honeykins' would".

"Whatever you say…'sweetie,'" she smirked, nudging his side playfully.

"No, don't," he groaned loudly, sighing, "I prefer your nickname for me".

"I seem to recall you whining about it at first when I called you by it in front of the Master".

"I was a teenage boy, no teenage boy wants to be called 'sweetheart' in front of their friends. That's like…getting kissed by your Mum at school…" he frowned slightly, looking a little unsure, "…I think?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "I was your friend and yet you had no problem with me calling you by it when it was just us".

"You were a special case, even back then," he replied, giving her a wide smile, and quickly kissing her cheek.

"You do remember that I only called you that as a joke at first, yes?"

"And now look at us," he smirked, giving her a wink, before clapping his hands together as he looked back across to Amy, who had watched them with a look crossed between amusement and disgust, "Now, then," his eyes twinkled as he reached inside his blazer, pulling out his sonic, and flashed it across the lock on the case.

Almost at once, an alarm began blearing throughout the room, and they quickly grabbed the box, the Doctor tucking it safely under his arm, and they raced back to the TARDIS at the other end of the room as two security guards appeared from another section of the museum, chasing after them.

"You couldn't have given me enough time to disable the alarms, I suppose?" the Hatter called, pulling out her key, slipping it into the lock, glancing back behind her towards the quickly approaching guards.

"Ah…" he gave her a slightly guilty look.

She rolled her eyes fondly, "Oh, never mind".

She pushed the doors open and ran inside, followed by Amy, and the Doctor. They ran up to the console and the Doctor sat the Home Box down on the console as the Hatter set them off into the Time Vortex, before moving around to help him to plug the device into the console.

Amy watched them curiously, moving to stand beside the Doctor, "Why are we doing this?" she asked them.

"Because someone on a spaceship twelve thousand years ago is trying to attract our attention," the Doctor answered, talking fast as he plugged in the last wire, glancing at the Hatter, "Let's see if we can get the security playback working".

They looked up to the monitor above the console, watching as grainy, black and white footage began playing with a slightly younger looking River Song, appearing to be wearing a floor length gown and sunglasses, holding a small gun. She looked straight at the camera, lowering her sunglasses, and winked before walking out of view.

The Time Lords and Amy exchanged a quick look, the Hatter looking more amused then anything, since she couldn't help but feel as if that was something she might have done…without the gun part, of course. Oh, and probably the floor length gown, if she could help it.

The Doctor adjusted one of the plugs and the footage changed to show River with her back to the camera, standing beside a large, circular door.

"The party's over, Doctor Song…" a man's voice remarked from off the screen, "Yet still you're on board".

Slowly, River calmly turned around to face the camera, "Sorry, Alistair," she said to the man, smiling slightly, "I needed to see what was in your vault. Do you know what's down there?" she raised her eyebrows, "Any of you? Because I'll tell you something. This ship won't reach its destination".

"Wait till she runs," the man obviously ordered someone, no doubt soldiers or guards, "Don't make it look like an execution".

River, not seeming the least bit concerned, simply checked her watch casually, "Triple seven, five, slash, three, four, nine by ten…" she began rattling off, the Time Lady slowly broke into a smile as the Doctor glanced at her, doing a double take when he caught sight of her smile, "Zero, twelve, slash, acorn," she smirked up at the camera, patting her hair, "Oh, and I could do with an air corridor".

The Hatter quickly moved around to the side of the console, typing the coordinates in, and setting the air corridor up.

"What was that?" Amy asked, frowning over to the Hatter, looking confused, "What did she say?"

"Coordinates," the Doctor told her, stepping around to the blonde with a small frown of his own, "Hatter, what are you doing?" he sighed, his eyes narrowing slightly, "This is River, I don't trust her".

"Well, until I'm proven otherwise, I do," the Hatter replied, giving her a small smile before shaking her head at him, "Oh, sweetheart, stop it," she scolded lightly, giving him a stern look, "You might not trust her, but she's asked for our help, and we don't just walk away, Doctor".

"I just don't like the idea of someone who knows our future being around us. And we don't even know her, she could be anyone to us. I don't trust her".

"Believe me, I'm well aware," the Time Lady remarked, patting his arm comfortingly, flashing him a small smile, "But sometimes you just have to have a little blind faith in people," he went to open his mouth, ready to argue, and she quickly placed a finger on his lips, "Doctor, don't bother," she said sternly, fixing him with a look, "River went to all this trouble to get our attention, she wants us for something, and we are going to find out what that might be. Besides, it might be a good adventure".

He groaned slightly, shifting on the spot as she removed her finger, "Ooh, why do have to use that tone?"

She blinked, looking confused, "What tone?"

"That _one_ ," he waved his hand around her, "The bossy, authority sounding one," she raised her eyebrows at him, giving him an almost teasing look, "I never can resist when you use that tone".

She reached up and slowly adjusted his bowtie, smirking, "Is that so, sweetheart?" she asked, her tone sounding innocent.

Amy cleared her throat loudly, making them both jump, "Do the two of you ever stop flirting?" she huffed slightly, crossing her arms across her chest, "I thought you were supposed to be doing something about that woman?"

The Hatter blushed and cleared her throat, taking a step back from the Doctor, who ran a hand down his own, pink face, "Sorry, Amy," she nodded over to her, giving her a small smile, "I'm afraid that we're still not very used to having someone travelling with us," she quickly turned back to the console, finishing typing the rest of the coordinates in.

"Like I said on the dance floor," River commented over to the recording, "You might want to find something to hang on to!" the sound of something rapidly beeping sounded and she blew the man a mocking kiss, just before the door behind her burst open, sending her flying out into space, ending the footage.

The Time Lords danced around the controls, materialising in space a short distance from the ship that the Home Box had belonged to, right in River's path.

"Mind getting the door, Doctor?" the Time Lady flashed him a bright smile as she pulled a lever, "We've got a visitor".

The Doctor ran down the console stairs and across to the doors, opening them, and reaching out, pulling River in…only to end sending them both sprawling on the floor from the force, River landing on top of the Doctor with a loud gasp.

"Doctor?" Amy frowned, crossing her arms again as she looked over to them. She couldn't help but feel a small flicker of jealous as she looked at them. With the Hatter, it was different, the Time Lady had been there ever since they had first crashed into her garden shed as a little girl, and they were married, so while all that flirting and little kisses she had noticed was a little annoying, she understood, but this new woman was a complete unknown to her. She couldn't help but feel just a little bit possessive.

"River?" the Doctor eyed her, carefully helping the woman climb on to her feet almost at once as the Time Lady jogged down the steps to join them.

River, the moment she was back on her feet, whirled around to look back outside the doors, watching as the ship flew off, "Follow that ship!" she called.

The Hatter spun on her heel, racing back up to the controls, "On it!" she announced, pulling a lever, sending them off.

The Doctor closed the doors before either himself or River could end up being tossed out into space as the TARDIS began jolting around. River grinned, somehow managing to run up to the console in her very high, red heels, and quickly hugged the Time Lady, much to her surprise, and kissed her cheek.

"I didn't doubt you for a second, honeykins," she assured her, giving her a wink, seeming amused by the other woman's startled expression as she stepped around to the monitor, and slipped off her heels, hanging them on the monitor as if she did such a thing every other day.

The Doctor joined them, eyeing River warily as they began working at the controls, while Amy stood back, holding onto the railing as she watched them with a small frown.

"They've gone into warp drive!" River informed the Time Lords, looking up at the screen, "We're losing them! Stay close!"

"We're trying!" the Doctor shouted, a touch of annoyance in his tone as he pulled a lever.

"Use the stabilisers!"

"There aren't any stabilisers!"

"And he wonders why he never passed his TARDIS examination," the Hatter rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but she looked more amused then anything as she shot him a look around the Time Rotor.

River shook her head, "The blue switches!"

"Oh, the blue ones don't do anything, they're just…blue!" the Doctor replied, shrugging.

"Yes, they're blue!" she rolled her eyes at him, moving around towards the switches, "Look, they're the _blue stabilisers_!" she hit the switch and everything stopped shaking, the TARDIS falling silent almost at once. She smirked, glancing at the Doctor, who was staring at her, "See?"

"Yeah, well, it's just boring now, isn't it?" he threw her a look before grabbing the switch, shaking it slightly as he glared down at it, "They're…boring-ers! They're the blue boring-ers!"

The Hatter laughed fondly, moving around to him, patting his arm soothingly, "Oh, stop fussing, sweetheart," she scolded lightly, glancing over to River, "He got this way with Romana, too".

Amy stepped closer to the Time Lords, casting River a curious look, "How come she can fly the TARDIS?" she questioned in a low voice.

"You call that flying the TARDIS?" the Doctor threw River a glare, not bothering to lower his own voice, looking affronted, "Ha!" he scoffed loudly and flopped down onto the jump seat just off to the side of the console sulkily, "And _you_ ," he suddenly pointed at the Hatter, giving her a accusing look.

The Time Lady raised an eyebrow at him, moving to lean against the railing by his seat, "Yes, sweetheart?"

"You're supposed to be on my side," he leaned towards her, whispering.

She laughed, quickly covering it up with a cough as she leaned down to him, their faces inches apart, "Would a kiss make you feel better?" she asked. He grinned and went to kiss her, but she drew back, laughing as his eyes widened, "Maybe when you've stopped sulking," she shot him a teasing look as she straightened.

"You…but that…" he opened and closed his mouth, waving a hand around at her, "That's cheating!"

"Well, you would know all about cheating, wouldn't you? You knew you should have gone that snake while we were playing that game of Snakes and Ladders the other night. You just thought I didn't notice".

"Okay," River suddenly called through the room, having watched them with a soft smile, but she knew very well that unless she caught there attention, they would just go on for hours. She looked up at the monitor, "I've mapped the probability vectors," she began as the Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, "Done a fold-back on the temporal isometry, charted the ship to its destination, and…" she hit a switch, looking back up to the room with a small, smug smile, "…parked us right alongside".

"Parked us?" the Doctor repeated, frowning at her as the Hatter looked almost impressed, "We haven't landed".

"Of course we've landed," she replied, moving the monitor around as the Time Lords and Amy stepped around the console to see for themselves, "I just landed her".

"But…" he glanced at the Hatter and Amy, "…it didn't make the noise".

"What noise?"

"You know, the…" he mimicked the wheezing, raspy sound that the TARDIS made, actually doing a rather good impression.

River fixed him with a look, "It's not supposed to make that noise," she pointed at him, " _You_ leave the brakes on".

"I've been telling him for centuries, River," the Hatter cut in, shaking her head, looking amused, "But he never listens. I've given up, to be perfectly honest".

The Doctor looked at her, "Your TARDIS made the _same_ sound!"

"My TARDIS was _supposed_ to sound like that, sweetheart".

He opened and closed his mouth for a moment as all three woman raised their eyebrows at him, "Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise," he eventually told them, "I love that noise, and don't pretend like you don't!" he added quickly, giving the Time Lady a pointed look.

"Which is why I haven't touched the brakes," the Hatter agreed, giving him a small smile.

"Knew it," he took her hand, glancing at Amy, "Come along, Pond, let's have a look".

The Time Lords began heading over to the doors, "No, wait!" River shouted over to them, turning back to the monitor, "Environment checks".

"Oh yes, sorry," he exchanged a look with the Hatter, both looking amused, "Quite right," he looked back over to River, who had her eyes fixed on the screen before her, " _Environment checks_ ," they stepped over to the door and he pulled it open, sticking his head out before looking back up to the console, "Nice out".

"We're somewhere in the Garn Belt," River ignored him, her eyes still fixed on the screen, "There's an atmosphere. Early indications suggest that…"

"We're on Alfava Metraxis, the seventh planet of the Dundra System," he cut in quickly as the Time Lady smiled slowly, "Oxygen rich atmosphere, all toxins in the soft band, eleven hour day, and…" he made a sweeping gesture to the Time Lady.

The Hatter leaned around him, sticking her head out the doors, taking a sniff of the cool, slightly salty air, before looking back inside the console, "And chances of rain later," she added brightly as Amy and River looked over towards them.

River shook her head at them, glancing at Amy, "They think they're so hot when they do that," she remarked to the red head.

The Time Lords exchanged a look, closed the doors, and jogged back up to the console as Amy eyed River, "How come you can fly the TARDIS?" she asked her.

"Oh, I had lessons from the very best".

"Well, yeah…" the Doctor smirked smugly, flopping back down on the jump seat.

"It's a shame you were busy that day, Doctor," she continued and he lost his smug look, "Good thing I had the Hatter," she shot the Time Lady a smile, making her laugh, nudging the Doctor's side, "Right, then," she turned back to the monitor, grabbing her heels, and began heading for the doors, "Why did they land here?"

"Ah, but that's the thing," the Hatter watched her, "The ship _didn't_ land".

"Sorry?"

The Doctor stood, following after her as Amy hurried behind him, while the Time Lady didn't even bother moving, "You should've checked the Home Box," he told her, "It crashed," River opened the door and stepped out, and he slammed it behind her, giving Amy a look as he passed her, stepping back up to the console.

Amy frowned at him, "Explain!" she demanded, marching after him, "Who is that and how did she do that museum thing?"

He began fiddling with the controls, "It's a long story and we don't know most of it," he replied, waving his hands around before he began typing something into the controls, "Off we go!"

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving. She's got where she wants to go, let's go where we want to go".

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Are you basically running away?"

The Hatter laughed, strolling around the console to join them, "That's exactly what he's doing," she agreed, giving the Doctor a teasing look.

Amy smiled, giving the Doctor an almost mocking look, "Why?"

"Because she's the future," he argued, glancing at the Hatter. While he might have loved how kind she was to others, she did have a weakness for wanting to trust people, even when they might not have given any reason to trust them. She had come a long way from when she was a child, but she still tried to give people the benefit of the doubt, which only made the possibility that she could get herself hurt or even worse, all the more possible. And that only made him even more protective over her, even though he knew she hated it, and that she was more than capable of protecting herself, he still would never forgive himself if anything was to happen to her, " _Our_ future," he sighed slightly.

"Can you run away from that?" she questioned.

"I can run away from anything I like…except for the Hatter," he flashed the blonde a broad smile and a wink, "Even in the old days we still managed to run into each other accidently".

"Oh, as if you would ever want to try running away from me," the Hatter laughed, giving him another teasing look as she nudged his side, before fixing him with a sharper look, "And to be perfectly honest, I am rather curious to know just why River would be chasing that ship," she finished, her tone turning sterner as she spoke.

Amy's eyes widened in realisation, "Hang on, is that a _planet_ out there?" she pointed over towards the doors, cutting in before the Doctor had a chance to argue again.

"Yes…" he replied, narrowing his eyes carefully at the red head, "Of course it's a planet".

"You two promised me a planet," she grinned excitedly, pointing at them, "Five minutes?" she pleaded hopefully.

The Doctor looked at the Hatter, who shrugged, giving him a cheeky smile, "Well, _I_ did promise her," she began, giving him a pointed look, "And I always keep my promises, sweetheart".

He looked back and forth between both women, already knowing that he had lost, seeing as the Time Lady would just walk out those doors with Amy, regardless of what he said, "Okay," he sighed heavily, fixing Amy with a firm look, " _Five minutes_ ".

"Yes!" Amy cheered, practically jumping on the spot, before running for the doors as the Hatter laughed.

The Time Lady grabbed the Doctor's hand, pulling him after the red head, "But that's all," he continued quickly, "Because I'm telling you now, that woman is not dragging me into anything…"

They opened the doors and stepped out onto a beach where black smoke filled the air, bits of debris scattered around them, some of it still burning as they looked up to a high cliff were a city seemed to have once been carved into the very rock. Parts of it had gone up in flames from where the ship had crashed into the very heart of what was once probably a beautiful city.

The Hatter sighed as they all stared up at the burning ship, glancing warily at the Doctor, "Consider yourself dragged into something, sweetheart," she remarked quietly to him as they approached River.

"What caused it to crash?" River asked them, looking up at the ship with a small frown, "Not me".

"Nah, the airlock would've sealed seconds after you blew it," the Doctor informed her, shaking his head, "According to the Home Box, the warp engines had a phase shift. No survivors".

"A phase shift would have to be sabotage," she reached inside her small handbag, pulling out a device, "I did warn them".

"About what?" the Time Lords shot her a curious look.

"Well, at least the building was empty," she continued, ignoring there question, "Aplan temple. Unoccupied for centuries," she held up the device towards the ship and began fiddling with buttons.

The Doctor and the Hatter eyed her for a moment before stepping back over to Amy, who stood a short distance away from them, "Aren't you going to introduce us?" the red head gave them a pointed look, glancing over to River.

The Doctor sighed, "Amy Pond, Professor River Song," he introduced quickly.

"Doctor…" the Hatter groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose. She had no idea about what River knew or didn't know yet, but going around, blurting out information like that without knowing for sure, was not the best approach to take in a situation like this one. She supposed that the remark River had made to her about the Doctor controlling his mouth like the TARDIS was proving correct.

"Ah!" River gasped, whirling around to look at him, "I'm going to be a Professor some day, am I?" the Doctor cringed at his slip, shooting the Time Lady an apologetic look as she shook her head at him, "How exciting!" she laughed as she turned back to look at the crashed ship, going back to what she had been doing, "Spoilers!"

"Doctor, I think in future you should leave the introductions to me when it comes to River," the Time Lady muttered to him, giving him a look.

Amy leaned closer to the Time Lords, her eyes fixed on River's back, "Yeah, but who is she and how did she do that?" she lowered her voice, "She just left you two a note in a museum!"

The Doctor held a finger to his lips, making a 'shh,' sound, before wondering a short distance away, looking around as the Hatter simply looked amused.

"Two things always guaranteed to show up in a museum," River commented, having heard Amy, "The Home Box of category four star liner and, sooner or later…" she turned, throwing both Time Lords a smirk, " _Them_ ," she glanced at Amy, "It's how they keep score".

"I know," Amy laughed, stepping beside her as the Time Lady coughed, blushing.

"It's hilarious, isn't it? And don't even get the Hatter started on fictional characters."

"I'm not _that_ bad!" the Hatter exclaimed, shifting uncomfortably on the spot, "I've just…offered a few suggestions…"

River shot her an amused look, "Alice in Wonderland?"

"That was Alice's fault," she avoided her and Amy's eyes, mumbling as she ducked her head, "I was too busy fangirling".

The Doctor laughed sarcastically, strolling back over to them, "We're nobody's taxi service!" he pointed sternly at River, who simply smiled, looking more amused then anything, "We're not going to be there to catch you every time you feel like…like jumping out of a spaceship!"

"And you are _so_ wrong," River replied, smiling calmly, "The Hatter will always be there, and you never can resist whatever she wants," the Doctor glanced at the Hatter, who gave him a wink, looking highly amused, and he smiled slowly back, knowing that it was true. She only had to look at him too make his resolve falter in most cases, "There's one survivor," River continued, looking back up at the ship, "There's a thing in the belly of that ship that can't ever die," she glanced back to the Time Lords as they looked at her curiously, smirking as she looked at Amy, "Now he's listening!" she held the device up to her ear and spoke into it, "You lot in obit yet? Yeah, I saw it land," she began wondering away from them, "I'm at the crash site. Try and home in on my signal," she paused, holding up the device as she looked back to the Time Lords, "Doctor, can you sonic me? I need to boost the signal so we can use it as a beacon".

The Doctor sighed and reluctantly reached inside his blazer, withdrawing his sonic screwdriver, and flashed it in River's direction. She smiled broadly back to him and gave him a small curtsey, before continuing with what she was doing.

"Ooh, Doctor," Amy laughed, leaning closer to him with a teasing tone, "You _sonicked_ her!" she smirked, before stepping away from them, looking curiously at River was doing.

The Hatter sent her a small, amused smile, turning to the Doctor, "Dear me, sweetheart, you ought to be careful," she remarked in the same teasing tone as Amy, giving him a mock pout, "You wouldn't want to make me jealous, now, would you?"

"Dear, I'm almost positive there's nothing that would make you jealous," he told her, shaking his head.

"Well, perhaps I just trust you and our relationship to much too ever feel threatened by another woman?" she suggested, tilting her in.

He gave her a soft smile, taking her hand, and placing a kiss on it, "Good, because there's only _ever_ been _you_ , and there _will_ only ever be _you_ for me".

"Well, I would hope so, sweetheart, since I feel the exact same way".

"We have a minute!" River called over to them, heading back over to them, "Shall we?" as she reached them, she slipped the device back inside her handbag, and pulled out the TARDIS shaped diary, only it wasn't quite as old as when they had last seen it, "Where are we up to?" she flipped through a couple of pages, "Have we done the Bone Meadows?"

Amy stepped over to her, eyeing the book, "What's the book?" she asked.

"Stay away from it," the Doctor warned her, refusing to even look at the book's cover.

The Hatter gave River a small, apologetic look, "I'm afraid not, River," she said to her, inwardly wincing. She could only imagine how hard it must be for River, knowing herself and the Doctor so well, and yet, herself and the Doctor barley knowing her.

"What is it, though?" Amy questioned, frowning over at the Time Lords.

"Her diary," the Doctor answered.

"Our diary," River corrected.

"It contains her past, but the future to us," the Hatter explained, to Amy, who still looked confused, gesturing to herself and the Doctor, "You see, with time travel we don't meet in the right order, and this is River's way of keeping track".

Suddenly, four columns of swirling dust, looking similar to small tornadoes appeared on the sand a short distance from them, and as the dust cleared, it revealed four soldiers in desert camouflage with guns. One of the men, an older looking man, approached River.

"You promised me an army, Doctor Song," the man remarked to her, giving her a look.

"No," River smirked at him, holding her book to her chest, "I promised you the _equivalent_ of an army. This is the Doctor and the Hatter," she nodded over to the Time Lords, who stepped forward.

The Doctor gave him a slightly mocking salute as the Hatter tipped the brim of her hat to the man.

"Father Octavian, sir, ma'am," the man, Octavian introduced himself, shaking the Doctor's hand, and then the Hatter's, "Bishop, second class. Twenty clerics at my command," the Time Lords exchanged a quick look, their eyes drifting up to the crashed ship, "The troops are already in the drop ship and landing shortly. Doctor Song was helping us with a covert investigation," he raised his eyebrows, following there gaze, "Has Doctor Song explained what we're dealing with?"

River turned to them, "Doctor, Hatter, what do you know of the Weeping Angels?"

Both Time Lords heads snapped around to look at her, their eyes widening in alarm as they tightened their grip on each other's hands. The Hatter took a deep breath, glancing warily at the Doctor, "I swear, if I end up in another mini dress by the end of today, I won't be happy".

Despite the situation, the Doctor couldn't help but burst out laughing, his eyes drifting down to her legs. He remembered vividly some of those mini dresses and skirts she had been forced to wear, not to mention watching her throw each and single one into a black hole the first chance she got.

"Doctor," she said sharply, snapping his attention back to her, "Eyes up here, thank you," she pointed to her face, giving him a look.

He coughed and nodded quickly, "I was just…admiring your boots, dear".

"Yes, I'm sure you were," she scoffed, exchanging a look with River, who looked highly amused.

…

Night quickly fell and the rest of soldiers arrived with plenty of equipment, and began to set up camp the moment they had landed at the base of the cliff. The Time Lords walked behind Octavian with their arms linked, Amy right behind them as they moved through the camp, past soldiers as they finished setting up large lights.

"The Angel, as far as we know, is still trapped in the ship," Octavian began, glancing back to them, "Our mission is to get inside and neutralise it. We can't get through up top, we'd be too close to the drivers," he led them over to were a table had been set up with some equipment scattering the top, "According to this…" he withdrew a small device from his pocket, similar to River's, holding it out for the Time Lords to see a diagram of what appeared to be multiple layered structure, "Behind the cliff face there's a network of catacombs leading right up to the temple," he continued, putting the device away, "We can blow through the base of the cliffs, get into the entrance chamber, then make our way up".

"Oh, good," the Doctor nodded, looking up at the cliff, clutching the Hatter's hand tighter.

He frowned at him, "Good, sir?"

"Catacombs, probably dark ones," he looked at him, his hearts racing, trying to think of another way to get around having go inside, because it was certainly the last thing he wanted to do, let alone for the Hatter to be there, too. The Hatter moved closer to him, trying to give him a comforting look, and he squeezed her hand, " _Dark catacombs_ ," he sighed sarcastically, "Great".

"Technically, I think it's called A 'Maze of the Dead…'"

The Hatter winced, sending the man a quick look as the Doctor tensed even more, "Ah, could you maybe…stop talking now?"

"Father Octavian?" one of the cleric's called.

Octavian glanced over to the cleric, nodding, before looking back to the Time Lords, "Excuse me, sir, ma'am," he turned and walked away.

The Doctor waved him off, hardly listening as he pulled his sonic out, flashing it at a couple of bits of equipment, just trying to find some way to distract himself. The Hatter gave him a concerned look.

"You're letting people call you 'sir' and 'ma'am,'" Amy remarked, eyeing them, "You never do that," when they didn't respond, she sat on the table beside the equipment, "So, whatever a Weeping Angel is, it's really bad, yeah?"

"Now that's interesting…" the Doctor frowned slowly, looking across to her as the Hatter picked up a piece of equipment, turning it over in her hands, "You're still here," he continued to Amy, leaning towards her, "Which part of 'wait in the TARDIS till we tell you it's safe' was so confusing?"

She mock pouted at him, "Ooh, you are Mister Grumpy Face today," she broke into a grin.

"Amy, you have no idea how serious this situation really is," the Hatter sighed, casting her a sharp look, but it was broken when she tilted her head thoughtfully, giving her a small smile, "Though, I am somewhat inclined to agree with you".

"Hatter, not helping," the Doctor groaned slightly, and she sent him an apologetic look. He turned back to Amy, "A Weeping Angel, Amy, is the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life form evolution has ever produced, and right now one of them is trapped inside that wreckage and we're supposed to climb in after it with a screwdriver and the Hatter's sense of humour…"

"Hey!" the Time Lady nudged his side, knowing that was about her remark just before.

"…and a torch," he went on, sending the blonde a quick smile before turning serious again, "And, assuming we survive the radiation long enough and assuming the whole ship doesn't explode in our faces, do something incredibly clever which we haven't actually thought of yet. That's our day. That's what we're up to," he raised his eyebrows at Amy, "Any questions?"

Amy eyed them carefully for a moment, "Is River Song like…" she awkwardly shifted, glancing at the Hatter, "Your wife?" both Time Lord's mouths fell open, "It's possible, right?" she added quickly, seeing their reaction, "Marriages brake up all the time. She's someone from your future, and the way she talks to you," she nodded to the Doctor, who was opening and closing his mouth wordlessly, "I've only seen the Hatter do that. She's kinda like, you know, 'heel, boy!'" she smirked at him.

The Time Lords looked at each other, completely shocked by her question, "No!" they exclaimed, looking back to Amy.

The red head shifted again, but she couldn't help but ask. She wasn't really sure why she felt the need to ask in the first place, she had seen the way they were with each other, which was a little sickening, to be honest, and how happy they both seemed, but at the same time she felt like she needed to make sure.

She had Rory back at home, who she loved and was supposed to be getting married to, but at the same time there was also the Doctor, who, while very obviously married, just had something about him that pulled her in. She had tried hard to remind herself about Rory and the Hatter, and yet she still felt a sense of attraction towards the Doctor that just didn't seem to want to leave her, and that feeling only seemed to grow the longer she spent around him…though, she did have to admit that having his wife along with them did help to remind her about her own commitment to Rory, and stop her from doing anything she might regret. But how much longer would that last?

"Well…I know you might not like to think about it, but it could be possible…" she began slowly.

"Actually, it's not," the Hatter told her, shaking her head, growing more amused as her shock subsided, unlike the Doctor, who was staring at Amy as if he thought she was insane, "You see, we're not just married, we're _United_ ".

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"In a way, yes. On Gallifrey, Time Lords would marry, and then once one of the couple regenerated…you do remember what I told you about regeneration, yes?" she paused, glancing at her, and Amy nodded, "Good. Well, if one of the couple regenerates, then by Gallifreyan law the marriage would end, but most of the time they would just end up remarrying. Old habits. But with a Uniting ceremony, the marriage can't be broken, not by divorce, nor even by death. It's forever".

"Which is why we're positive River's _not_ my wife," the Doctor cut in, saying the words quickly with a small grimace, "A Union outweighs any other wedding. Besides," he smiled broadly as he looked at the Time Lady, kissing her hand, "There's only been one person for me".

Amy looked at them closely, before frowning slightly, "So who's River to you, then? Is she…some sort of relative?"

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, and the Doctor sighed slightly, rubbing his face, "Yes," he commented, making Amy's eyes widen, "You're right…I'm definitely Mister Grumpy Face today".

Amy smiled, laughing slightly as the Hatter nodded in agreement, kissing his cheek almost sympathetically.

"Doctor and Hatter!" River suddenly called, waving her hands around to catch their attention from where she stood in the doorway of one of the transportable units that the clerics had brought with them. She had changed out of the gown and into some camouflage gear, putting her curly hair up into a ponytail. The Doctor sighed, ducking his head, "Hello, you two?"

"Oops," Amy grinned, giving the Time Lords a mocking look, "Her indoors!"

"Father Octavian!" River added, before stepping back inside the unit.

"We had better see what's going on," the Hatter glanced at the other two, fixing the Doctor a pointed look when he started to look sulky again, "Oh, stop it, Doctor," she scolded him lightly, pulling him towards the unit, Amy following behind, just as Octavian headed inside the unit.

"Why do they call him 'Father?'" Amy asked, watching the man ahead of them.

"He's their Bishop, they're his Clerics," the Doctor replied, shrugging, "It's the fifty first century. The Church has moved on".

They entered the unit and they were immediately greeted by a screen at the other end of the small room with a quite grainy black and white recording of a Weeping Angel, facing away from the camera with its face covered as River stood by the screen, holding the remote.

River glanced at them and Octavian, "What do you think?" she nodded to the screen as the Time Lords approached it, eyeing the recording, "It's from the security cameras in the _Byzantium_ vault. I ripped it when I was on board," she informed them, "Sorry about the quality. Its four seconds. I've put it on loop".

"Yeah, it's an Angel," the Doctor nodded, looking back to the screen, watching the recording loop back to the start, "Hands covering its face".

"You've encountered the Angels before?" Octavian looked at the Time Lords curiously.

"Once, a little while ago," the Hatter replied, sighing slightly, "We were on Earth at the time," she cringed, shifting slightly on the spot, "Like I said earlier, if I end up in another mini dress like last time, I'm really not going to be happy".

"It wasn't all bad," the Doctor gave her a bright grin, wrapping an arm around her waist, "We had our first proper date, remember?"

"Ah, yes, how could I forget?" she laughed, shaking her head as she recalled the date in question, "You set fire to the table cloth and we ended up being chased out of the restaurant by an angry owner, and then we got shouted at by a policemen when we were at that park, because you were tickling me".

He blushed slightly, "Well…at least it was memorable?" he tried, shrugging a little guiltily.

"It most certainly was," she agreed, struggling to hold back another laugh as she cleared her throat, forcing herself to grow serious again, "But the last time we came across the Angels, they were just scavengers," she told the others, "Hardly surviving".

Amy frowned at the screen, "But it's just a statue," she shook her head.

"It's a statue when you see it," River explained to her.

"Where did it come from?" the Doctor nodded to the Angel, glancing over to River.

"Oh, pulled from the ruins of Razbahan, end of last century. It's been in private hands ever since. Dormant all this time".

"Perhaps," the Hatter tilted her head, a small dark smile crossing her face as she looked back to the screen, "But there's a big difference between being dormant and patient, and personally, I know which one I would go for".

"What's that mean, it's a statue when you see it?" Amy looked to River, still frowning.

"The Weeping Angels can only move if they're unseen," River told the red head, and the Doctor rolled his eyes. The Hatter nudged his side sharply, giving him a look, "So legend has it".

"It's not just a legend, it's fact," the Time Lady cut in, still giving the Doctor a look that clearly said to behave, "It's called a quantum lock, which means that the Angels literally cease to exist before the eyes of any living creatures," she paused before adding, recalling how they had tricked them the last time, making them look at each other, "Including themselves".

"They're just stone," the Doctor continued, "The ultimate defence mechanism".

"What, being a stone?" Amy raised her eyebrows a little dubiously.

"Being a stone…until you turn your back," he looked over to the humans, giving them a smile, but it quickly faded as he turned, his arm still around the Time Lady's waist, and they walked out of the unit, "The hyperdrive would've split on the impact," he remarked back to Octavian and River, who followed after them.

"I'm afraid it's not going to be very pretty," the Hatter nodded, looking up to the crashed ship with a small frown, "The entire ship is going to be flooded with drive burn radiation, crackled energy, and we can't forget gravity storms," she winced slightly, but the Doctor seemed almost cheerful, "All of which makes it deadly to practically any living thing".

"Deadly to an Angel?" Octavian asked, sounding hopeful.

"Dinner to an Angel," the Doctor corrected, shaking his head as they paused, "The longer we leave it there, the stronger it will grow," a thoughtful look crossed his face, "Who built that temple? Are they still around?"

"You said it was the Aplans, didn't you, River?" the Time Lady looked back to her, vaguely recalling her mentioning it when they first stepped outside to see the crash.

River looked up from her device that she was fiddling with, "Yes, indigenous life form," she nodded to her before turning her attention back down the device in her hands, "They died out four hundred years ago".

"Two hundred years later, the planet was terraformed," Octavian added, making the Time Lords look back to him, "Currently there are six billion human colonists".

"Whoo!" the Doctor exclaimed as the Hatter smiled fondly, "You lot, you're everywhere. You're like rabbits!" he laughed slightly, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "We'll never get done saving you".

"It's amazing we even managed to have a honeymoon when you think about it," the Hatter commented, sounding amused, "At this rate, we'll never be bored".

He smiled softly at her, pulling her closer to his side, and placed a kiss to the top of her head, his eyes twinkling, "I, for one, am _very_ glad we did have a honeymoon".

She laughed, giving him a teasing look, "Oh, believe me, I know you are, sweetheart".

"Sir, ma'am, if there is a clear and present danger to the local population…" Octavian began, clearing his throat.

"Oh, there is," the Doctor cut across him, growing serious once more, "Bad as it gets. Bishop, lock and load!"

"Verger, how are we doing with those explosives?" he called to his men, setting to work, "Doctor Song, with me," he walked past the Time Lords.

"Two minutes," River waved him off and looked back to the Time Lords, "Sweetie, honeykins, I need you!" she told them before jogging over to a table covered with equipment.

The Doctor frowned, glancing the Hatter, "'Sweetie?'" he repeated, looking mildly annoyed.

"Oh, stop it," the Hatter scolded lightly, giving him a small, amused smile, "I think it's nice she's given us nicknames, and your one fits you well," she winked at him, "I've always thought you were sweet".

He grinned, lifting his chin a little high, "Yeah, I am a bit," he agreed smugly.

She rolled her eyes and lightly smacked his arm, "Egotistical idiot".

"Oh, so I'm not just an idiot, I'm egotistical too?" he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Sadly, yes".

"Well, do you know what?" he bopped the tip of her nose, making her squirm in his arm, "I'm your egotistical idiot, dear".

She mock sighed, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

He pretended to gasp at her, looking highly offended, "The things you say to me…"

"Oh, I know. I have no idea why you put up with me, sweetheart".

"Well, you do have some redeeming qualities. Plus, you always have a bag of jelly babies on hand".

"So basically, I married you because of your adorable pout when I tease you, and you married me because of my sweet tooth?" she tilted her head at him, struggling to hold back a laugh.

He paused, actually seeming to be considering what she had said, "That sounds about right, yeah," he nodded after a moment.

Unable to stop herself, she burst out laughing, "You know what, we're both idiots," she giggled, kissing his cheek fondly as he broke into his own broad smile, "That's the real reason we married each other. Idiot magnetism, that's what we have".

He laughed along with her, his eyes twinkling again, "That explains a lot".

The Hatter took a couple of calming breaths, trying to compose herself, before fixing the Doctor with a less stern look then she would have normally have given him, "Well, never mind that," she shook her head and began to pull him over towards River, "We had better focus, Doctor, and see what River wants".

He sighed slightly but nodded, knowing that she was right, though, while they had been joking around with each other, it had lightened the situation slightly. He supposed that was probably the reason why they tended to banter with each other far more then they usually would the more dangerous the situation was…but then again, perhaps that was just them, and the situation really didn't matter that much at all. That seemed highly likely.

The Time Lords made their way over towards River as Amy stepped into the doorway of the unit, her arms crossed, "Anybody need me?" she called, "Nobody?"

"Sorry, Amy, be with you in a moment," the Hatter looked over towards her, giving her a small smile, "We've been summoned".

The red head sighed and stepped back inside the unit as the Time Lords reached River, who held out an old looking book towards them, "I found this," she told them as the Doctor took it, eyeing it closely, "Definitive work on the Angels. Well, the only one. Written by a madman, it's barely readable, but I've marked a few passages".

The Doctor flipped through a couple of pages, "Not bad," he remarked, passing the book to the Time Lady, who did the same thing.

"A little slow in the middle, though," the Hatter shook her head, "Kind of felt like the romantic subplot with his girlfriend was a waste of time, but then again, I've never been a fan for romantic stories," she sighed slightly, making a face, "To much angst, not enough comedy and action".

He laughed, nodding in agreement before he frowned, realising they had missed something, "No, hang on!" he grabbed the book from her, quickly flickering through the pages, "Wait, wait, wait…" he sniffed the book.

"Doctor Song?" Amy's head popped around the edge of the unit's doorframe, looking over to them, "Did you have more than one clip of the Angel?"

"No, just the four seconds!" River called back to her, and Amy frowned before disappearing back inside the unit.

"This book is wrong," he muttered, turning the book over in his hands, glancing at the Hatter, "What's wrong with this book? It's wrong".

"Let me take a second look," the Hatter took the book, holding it closely to her face as she slowly flipped through the pages, forcing herself to read at a slower pace, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary, "Perhaps we missed something…this is just another reason I dislike romantic subplots," she grumbled slightly.

River reached inside her bag and pulled out her TARDIS shaped diary, opening it, before pausing to watch them, "It's so strange when you go all baby face," she commented, an almost amused look on her face, "How early is this for you two?"

"Very early," the Doctor replied distractedly, his eyes on the Time Lady as she continued her examination of the book.

"So you don't know who I am yet?"

"I have my suspicions," the Hatter admitted, briefly glancing over the book to her, eyeing her carefully. She had many ideas of just who River Song might be to herself and the Doctor, but that didn't mean she couldn't be completely wrong. She supposed that she wouldn't know for certain until they found out themselves.

The Doctor turned to River, narrowing his eyes at her slightly, "How do you know who we are?" he questioned, "We don't always look the same".

"I've got pictures of all your and the Hatter's faces," River explained, smiling as the Time Lady's eyes widened, her eyes snapping back down the book in her hands, "You never show up in the right order, though," she added, "I need the spotter's guide…"

"That's it…" the Time Lady breathed, meeting the Doctor's eyes, "Pictures!"

His own eyes widened in realisation, looking down to the book in her hands as it hit him, too, "Why aren't there pictures?" he grabbed the book, quickly flickering through it himself, "This whole book, it's a warning about the Weeping Angels, so why no pictures?" he frowned deeply, turning the book over in his hands, "Why not show us what to look for?"

"There was a bit about images," River reminded them, "What was that?"

"Of course!" the Hatter exclaimed, plucking the book from the Doctor's hands, quickly flipping back through the book until she found the correct page, "Ah, here we go…'That which holds the image of an Angel…'" she suddenly paled, her eyes snapping up to meet the Doctor's and River, looking horrified, "'…becomes itself an Angel,'" she finished, swallowing.

"What does that mean?" she shook her head, "'An image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel'"

Before the Time Lady could answer, Amy suddenly cried, "Doctor, Hatter!" they whirled around at the sound, looking over towards the unit, "It's in the room!"

"Amy!" the Time Lords shouted urgently, racing over towards the unit, only to find that the heavy metal door was closed.

"Doctor!"

"Are you alright?" the Doctor called through the door, banging against it as the Hatter pressed her ear against it, trying to listen, "What's happening?"

"It's coming out of the television! The Angel is here".

"Amelia, listen, keep your eyes on that Angel!" the Hatter instructed her quickly, trying to keep her voice calm, so not to frighten Amy, who was already growing more panicked. The Doctor grabbed his sonic and flashed it at the keypad, "Just keep watching it, because as long as you're looking at it, the Angel can't move!"

River watched the Doctor trying to sonic the controls, "What's wrong?" she asked, knowing that the door should have unlocked by now.

"Deadlocked," he sighed heavily, sounding frustrated.

She moved over to the keypad, pressing the buttons, "There is no deadlock".

"Well, there is now," the Hatter said, one hand moving to toy with her bowtie as she exchanged a quick, very worried look with the Doctor, "Amy, don't blink!" she shouted through the door urgently, "Don't even blink! You _have_ to keep looking at the Angel!"

"Hatter!" Amy yelled.

The Time Lady jumped down the small step of the unit and ran over to the side of the unit, grabbing a panel, and pulled it open as the Doctor joined her.

"What are you doing?" River looked over to them.

"Cutting the power," the Doctor told her, catching on to what the Hatter was doing as he and the Time Lady frantically began pulling out wires, "It's using the screen, we're turning it off!"

The Hatter plugged one of the wires into the panel, almost growling in frustration, "No, it's no use!" she groaned loudly, shaking her head, "The entire system has been deadlocked…" she paused, looking thoughtful, "Perhaps there's a way to do it from the inside, not that, that helps us from here".

"There's no deadlock!" River insisted.

"There is now!" the Doctor snapped.

"Help me!" Amy practically begged, sounding fearful.

The Time Lords ran back up to the door, "Can you turn it off?" the Doctor asked.

"Doctor!"

"Please, the screen, Amy!" the Hatter called to her, "Try turning the screen of!"

"I tried".

"Try again, but don't take your eyes off the Angel!" the Doctor tried.

"I'm not!"

He ran back down the side of the unit, trying to find another way to get inside as River stepped beside the Time Lady, aiming her little gun at the metal of the door, trying to cut through.

"Amelia, each time the Angel moves, it's going to be faster!" the Hatter warned her loudly, glancing at what River was doing with a small frown, positive that wouldn't work, but if it made her feel better…, "Don't blink, whatever you do!"

"I'm not blinking! Have you ever tried not blinking?" there was a short pause before she called back, sounding even more panicked, "It just keeps switching back on!"

"Yeah, it's the Angel!" the Doctor remarked grimly, fiddling with the wires again.

"But it's just a recording…"

"No, because anything that takes the image of an Angel is an Angel!" the Hatter shook her head, despite knowing that Amy couldn't see.

The Doctor glanced over to the door, frowning as he caught sight of what River was doing, "What are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm trying to cut through," River replied, "It's not even warm".

"There is no way in! It's not _physically_ possible!"

She sighed and stepped back, looking frustrated herself as the Doctor ran a hand through his hair. The Hatter swallowed, trying to think desperately of something, anything that might possibly save Amy.

"Doctor, Hatter…" Amy called, sounding even more afraid then before, "What's it going to do to me?"

"Amy, just keep your eyes fixed on it!" the Hatter shouted through the door, exchanging a fearful look with the Doctor, forcing her voice to sound calm, "Just keep looking at it!"

"Just tell me".

The Doctor darted back over towards the table, grabbing the book, and running back over to the Hatter, frantically flipping through it.

"Tell me. Tell me!"

His head snapped up to meet the Hatter's eyes, "Amy, not the eyes!" he ordered, "Look at the Angel, but don't look at the eyes!"

"Why?"

River look over to them worriedly, "What is it?"

The Hatter swallowed, leaning closer to the Doctor to see the book, "'The eyes are not the windows of the soul,'" she began to read aloud quickly, "'They are the doors. Beware what may enter there'".

"Hatter, what did you say?" Amy asked sharply.

"Not the eyes!" she shouted, turning back around to face the door as the Doctor grabbed his sonic again, trying to use it on the keypad once more, "Don't look at the Angels eyes!"

"No, about images. What did you say about images?"

River moved closer to the door, calling through, "'Whatever holds the image of an Angel, is an Angel!"

"Okay…hold this…" there was a pause as they listened intently, "One," she began to count, "Two, three, four…"

Suddenly, the sound of metal hitting against metal sounded, and the doors unlocked. They threw open the door and burst into the room, just as the screen turned off as Amy stood before it, holding the remote. The Hatter immediately moved to Amy's side, looking at her in concern

"I froze it," she told them, still sounding slightly panicked as the Doctor hurried past both women, and over to the screen, pulling the power supply, giving it a sonic, "There was a sort of…blip on the tape and I froze it on the blip," she continued, looking at the Hatter, who gave her a bright, proud smile, "It wasn't the image of an Angel any more. That was good, yeah?" she began breathing slightly heavier, glancing at the Doctor, "It was, wasn't it?" she smiled slowly, "That was pretty good".

"That was amazing!" River grinned, moving towards her.

"It certainly was," the Hatter agreed, pulling Amy into a hug, "A Time Lord couldn't have done it better, and I don't often get to say that," she added happily as she let go of her, stepping back with a small smirk, "Oh, my parents would have killed me for that remake".

"Oh, I bet," River commented, sending her an amused look, and wrapped an arm around Amy who, still looked a little shocked.

"Thanks," Amy smiled broadly, glancing at the Doctor, who was checking the results on his sonic, "Yeah, I kind of creamed it, didn't I?"

"So it was here?" she looked at the Time Lords as the Hatter joined the Doctor, checking the results herself, "That was the Angel?"

"That was a projection of the Angel," the Doctor informed them, sticking the sonic back inside his blazer, "It's reaching out, getting a good look at us. It's no longer dormant".

An explosion sounded from outside and the Time Lords ran over to the door, sticking their heads out to look.

"Last one positive!" one of the clerics reported to Octavian.

Octavian nodded to him and turned towards the unit, "Doctor!" he called, catching sight of them in the doorway, "Hatter! We're through!"

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look before turning back to Amy and River, "Now, we're in trouble," the Hatter remarked to them, a strange mixture of excitement and grim resignation crossing her face, before she and the Doctor linked arms, stepping outside.

 _ **Too much flirting/banter? I was sick when I wrote this chapter and writing banter made me feel better, so I apologise if I went a bit over the top with it. Next chapter, we've got an angry Hatter, why is the Doctor getting hit on the back of his head? And those statures are really making our Time Lady edgy for some reason…**_

 _ **Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **I've got the first chapter of the Second Doctor's episode written up and about a thousand words thus far for the second chapter. At the moment it will either be three to four parts for each of the three episodes, but that could easily change, since Classic Who seems to have a lot more dialog then Modern Who…or maybe that's just in my head? I can't tell. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **GuestCat, (chapter 4):**_ _ **Hello, lovely to hear from you again. I've never actually read Alice in Wonderland book, I've only seen the 2010 movie and the mini-series 'Alice.' I'm so glad that you like the story, and happy holiday. I hope you enjoy yourself. Thanks for the review :)**_


	8. Chapter 8 The Time of Angels, Part 2

_**The Time of Angels, Part 2**_

The Doctor climbed down a rope ladder, jumping the last few steps, and joining Octavian and his men at the bottom as they all stood in the middle of a large, very dark chamber of the Maze of the Dead with only there torches to light the area. As he landed, he turned back around as the Hatter climbed the ladder, and reached up to lightly grab her waist once she was within reaching distance, making her laugh quietly as he lifted her down.

The Time Lady turned in his arms as he settled her onto her feet, raising an eyebrow to him, "We seem to be developing a bit of a habit, sweetheart," she remarked teasingly, "Trying to impress me?"

He grinned at her, "I'm just worried you might drop another book on my head if I leave you up a ladder to long," he replied in the same tone she had used.

"I seem to recall that turning out quite well".

"You weren't the one who ended up getting a lump on the top of your head".

She rolled her eyes, nudging his side playfully, "Oh, aren't you just so brave and tough," she shook her head.

"With you around?" he wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing her cheek, "Always, dear".

She laughed again as they walked over to Octavian, just as Amy and River climbed down the ladder, and cast their eyes around the space.

The Doctor glanced at Octavian, "Do we have a gravity globe?" he asked him.

"Grav globe," Octavian ordered his men, and one of the clerics stepped forward, handing the Doctor a white, sphere device.

"Where are we?" Amy questioned, shining her torch around as she tried to see through the darkness, but even the light from her torch didn't reach far, "What is this?"

"It's an Aplan Moratorium, sometimes called a 'Maze of the Dead,'" River told her, her eyes roaming around the space.

"What's that?" she frowned slightly over to her.

"Well, if you're a creature made of living stone…" the Hatter began, her voice sounding almost light, just as the Doctor kicked the gravity globe into the air where it came to a stop high in the air above them, bursting into light. She sighed slightly grimly, "It becomes the perfect hiding spot".

They stared around as the entire room was lit up, revealing hundreds, possibly even thousands of stone statues standing on several levels and alcoves around them.

"I guess this makes it a bit trickier," Octavian commented, sounding resigned.

"A bit, yeah," the Doctor agreed, laughing slightly.

"A stone Angel on the loose amongst stone statues. A lot harder than I'd prayed for".

"A needle in a haystack," River breathed, shining her torch up at the statues.

"A needle that _looks_ like hay," the Doctor corrected, "A hay-like needle of death," the Time Lady raised her eyebrows at him, looking mildly amused, "A hay-like needle of death in a haystack of…er, statues…"

"Sweetheart, you're babbling," the Hatter cleared her throat, giving him a pointed look.

He gave her a slightly embarrassed look, and glanced over to River, who was staring at him, "No, yours was fine," he nodded to her.

"Right…" Octavian eyed him for a moment, seeming a little sure of just what to make of him, before shaking his head, focusing on his men, "Check every single statue in this chamber," he ordered them, his eyes moving back around the room to look at the statues, "You know what you're looking for. Complete visual inspection. One questioned," he glanced at the Time Lords, "How do we fight it?"

"Ah…" the Hatter tried to give him a bright smile, tilting her head as she exchanged a quick look with the Doctor, "Well, I suppose the key thing is finding it first, and hoping for the best".

She and the Doctor began heading away, using the Doctor's torch to guide them as Amy quickly followed after them, but as River moved to follow them, Octavian grabbed her arm.

He gave the curly haired woman a careful look, "They don't know, do they?" he said to her, watching her reaction, "Who and what you are".

River looked back over to where the Time Lords and Amy were wondering further away, eyeing the statues as they passed them, "It's too early in their time stream," she sighed.

"Well, make sure they don't work it out," he warned her, "Or they're not going to help us".

"The Hatter's the one you have to worry about," she gave him an annoyed look, "She's better at understanding people then the Doctor, but she also trusts me, even this early on," she sighed slightly again, "She's already suspicious of who I am, but she can still be fooled," she almost smiled, despite the man's firm grip on her arm, just thinking about how many centuries the Doctor managed to fool her into thinking he only saw her as a friend, but her amusement quickly died as she noticed the sharp look on Octavian's face, "I won't let you down," she assured him, very serious, "Believe you me, I have no intention of going back to prison".

She pulled her arm out of his grasp and walked after the Time Lords and Amy, quickly catching up to them as the Doctor crept along cautiously just ahead of the Hatter and Amy, shining his torch in every direction as he eyed the statues standing on either side of path.

The Hatter glanced behind her to River as she neared them, giving her a curious look, "What did Octavian want?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Oh, nothing," River replied, shrugging with a small smile.

She gave her a look that clearly said she did believe her, before breaking into a smile, "He's not the most cheerful person, is he?" she remarked, shrugging slightly, "Well, I suppose, he is a solder," she glanced at Amy and frowned slightly, noticing her rubbing her eye before pulling her hand away, looking at in alarm, and rubbed it against her top, "Are you okay, Amy?" she gave her a concerned look.

Amy's head snapped up to look at her, seeming startled, "Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded a little too quickly, glancing at River, who was also looking at her in concern.

The Time Lady eyed her for a moment longer before deciding not to remark about the fact she had just been lied to twice in as many minutes. She knew perfectly well that the reason why River wouldn't be honest with her or the Doctor would be because it obviously had something to do with herself and the Doctor, but Amy lying was slightly different. Something with her eye bothered her, possibly even frightened her, and she either didn't believe whatever happened or she didn't want to worry anyone, probably a bit of both. She made a mental note to keep a closer eye on Amy as she turned around and walked over to join the Doctor, who was examining one of the statures.

"Everything alright?" the Doctor asked her quietly as she stepped beside him, glancing at her with a slightly worried look, taking note of her own frown.

"I'm not entirely sure yet," the Hatter told him, lowering her own voice so that Amy and River wouldn't hear, glancing back over towards them. She sighed heavily, "I feel like I'm missing something…no, scratch that, I feel like I'm missing a great deal, I just can't work out what yet".

"It's probably just River," he smiled comfortingly to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She shook her head, "No, I don't think so," she frowned, her eyes drifting around them, lingering for a moment on the statures, "I think it's this place," she eventually said, looking back to him, "Something about this place, aside from the obvious, just doesn't feel right. My instincts tell me that we are missing something right in front of us, but I just can't _see_ it yet".

He looked at her worriedly for a long moment, before taking her hand, and kissing it lightly, "Maybe you need your Second selves glasses," he tried to cheer her up, giving her a smile. It always made him nervous when the Hatter was the one who started getting edgy about things, since it usually meant something very bad was about to happen, especially when her instincts told her, seeing as more often than not, they were right.

He remembered even as a child her instincts at been right. When the Master had killed her cousin and made her forget ever having witnessed it, she still insisted that there had been foul play involved, even when there was no evidence to suggest that there had been, and even when he hadn't believed her, but her instincts had told her otherwise, and they had proven to be right.

The Hatter laughed slightly, kissing his cheek, "I'm not sure they would suit me anymore," she remarked, "But my past self was quite fond of them, along with her cape, as I recall".

"Didn't you get into a fight with your Third self over that cape?" the Doctor gave her a sideways look, looking amused.

"So says the man who was once accused of being a fan by his own past self".

They both laughed, remembering the times that they had managed to run into their own past or future selves, depending on how you looked at it, and the amusing fights or reactions that had come from such events, before they forced themselves on the task at hand: finding the Weeping Angel.

Amy watched the Time Lords for a moment as they laughed before looking at one of the statures, and shook her head, glancing at River beside her, "So, what's a Maze of the Dead?" she questioned.

"Oh, it's not as bad as it sounds," River shrugged, "It's just a labyrinth with dead people buried in the walls," Amy gave her a startled look and she paused, nodding slowly, "Okay, that was fairly bad," she reached inside a pocket, "Right, give me your arm…" she held up a syringe, "This won't hurt a bit…" and injected it into Amy's arm.

"Ow!" the red head yelped painfully.

"There, you see," she looked back to her as Amy gave her a small glare, "I lied," she smiled slightly as she looked down at the syringe still in her arm, "It's a viro-stabiliser. Stabilises your metabolism against radiation, drive burn, anything," she explained to Amy, "You're going to need it when we get up to that ship".

Amy looked back over to the Time Lords, watching as the Doctor stood in front of one of the statures, looking down at one of the clerics devices, while the Hatter stood slightly out of view around the other side of the statue, seeming to be examining the stone with her own torch, "So what are they like?" she nodded over to the Time Lords, glancing at River, "In the future, I mean. Because you know them in the future, don't you?"

"The Doctor and the Hatter?" she removed the syringe and began rubbing the spot she had injected on Amy's arm, before rolling her sleeve back down, slipping the syringe back in her pocket, "Well…the Doctor's the Doctor," she told her innocently, "And the Hatter's…the Hatter".

"Oh," she nodded, sounding amused, "Well, that's very…helpful," she gave her a playful look, "Mind if I write that down?"

River turned to look over to the Time Lords, shining her torch at them, "Yes, we are!" she called to them suddenly.

The Doctor didn't even look up from the device in his hands, nor did the Hatter look around the stature, "Sorry, what?" he frowned slightly, almost sounding annoyed.

"Talking about you".

"We weren't listening. We're busy".

"Ah…" she smirked, "The other way up".

He paused and eyed the device in his hands before turning it around, glancing over to River and Amy, who exchanged an amused look, and looked back to the device, "Yeah…"

A hand reached out from beside the stature and hit the back of his head, making him yelp in surprise, whirling around to face the Hatter, who was shaking her head at him, "Idiot," she sighed, but there was a hint of fondness in her tone, "You couldn't have just pretended to be looking at the stature, could you?"

He gave her a sheepish smile and she rolled her eyes, grabbing the device out of his hands as she stepped into full view beside him, and looked down at the screen properly.

Amy turned to River, who was still watching the Time Lords, amused, "You are _so_ related to them," she commented to her, seeing as they had made it pretty clear that she couldn't be the Doctor's wife, and she had to admit, River kind of reminded her of the Hatter, just a bit.

"Oh, Amy, Amy, Amy," River laughed quietly, shaking her head, "This is the Doctor and the Hatter we're talking about," she raised her eyebrows at her, "Do you really think it could be anything that simple?"

She smiled at her as the Hatter handed the device back to the Doctor, who slipped it into his pocket, casting Amy and River a suspicious look, "Yep".

"You're good," she looked away from her, shinning her torch up at the ceiling, shrugging, "I'm not saying you're right, but you are very good".

The Time Lords walked on a bit further down the pathway, shining there torches at the statures, when the sound of gunfire rang out. They ran back the way they had come, River and Amy hurrying behind them as they made their way back towards the main chamber to find a young cleric had shot at one of the statures, looking fearful.

"Sorry, sorry," he mumbled embarrassedly, lowering his gun as Octavian approached him, looking stern as the Time Lords shone there lights on the stature that he had hit, "I thought…" he glanced back over to the stature before meeting Octavian's eyes, "I thought it looked at me".

"We know what the Angel looks like," Octavian gave him a sharp look, nodding over to the stature, "Is that the Angel?"

"No, sir".

"No, sir, it is not!" he snapped, seeming to be forcing his voice to remain level, "According to the Doctor and the Hatter, we are facing an enemy of unknowable power and infinite evil, so it would be good, it would be _very_ good, if we could all remain calm in the presence of décor".

The Hatter cleared her throat and stepped over to the cleric, casting a quick look at Octavian, "Hello, there," she smiled at the young man kindly, "What's your name?"

The man blinked slightly in surprise, "Bob, ma'am," he answered.

"Ah, that's a great name," the Doctor called from behind the Time Lady, giving him a grin, "I love Bob".

"And Fred," the blonde remarked softly, looking amused.

"It's a Sacred Name," Octavian informed them, not seeming to be entirely pleased by their interruption, "We all have Sacred Names. They're given to us in the service of the Church".

"Nice," the Hatter nodded, giving Bob another smile, "It has a good ring to it, Sacred Bob," she tilted her head at the man, looking sympathetic, "You're afraid, aren't you?"

Bob lowered his eyes, "Yes, ma'am," he admitted.

"That's good," she assured him gently, making him blink at her in surprise, "Fear makes us faster, stronger, and if you can find a way to harness that fear, you could be an unstoppable force," she meet his eyes and lightly touched his shoulder, "Do you want to know a secret?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "I'm terrified right now, but if I let that fear overwhelm me, then what use would I be to anyone?"

"You're afraid, ma'am?"

She smiled at him, looking almost amused, "I would have to be an idiot not to be afraid, and you know what, I don't think you're an idiot," she gave him a wink and tapped the side of her nose, "Even Time Lords can be afraid sometimes, just don't go spreading it about," she raised her chin higher, putting on an mock arrogant air, "The Doctor and I do have our reputation to uphold".

Bob looked as if he was about to laugh before he quickly cleared his throat, his eyes flickering over to Octavian.

The Doctor pointed at Bob, "Anyone in this room who isn't scared is a moron," he agreed, pausing slightly as Octavian shot himself and the Hatter a look, before adding, "Carry on".

Octavian frowned slightly for a moment before looking around to his men, "We'll be moving into the maze in two minutes," he looked back to Bob, "You stay with Christian and Angelo. Guard the approach".

As the Time Lords turned away as Octavian began finishing his preparation to move forward, the Doctor took the Hatter's hand, "I won't let anything happen to you," he murmured to her, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

"We've been over this before, sweetheart," the Hatter gave him a small, almost sad smile, "As much as you might wish it, you can't always protect me, and nor do I need you to," she gave him a pointed look, "Funnily enough, I did manage to travel the Universe without you before".

"Believe me, I know," he nodded, giving her a smile as he remembered all the times she had almost given him a double heart attack during the centuries, and all the times he had spent worried that he might never see her again once she had said her goodbyes, leaving to go off on her own adventures.

"Okay, that's it, everyone!" Octavian suddenly called around to the group, "Let's move out!"

They all nodded and began to make their way through the maze, following Octavian as he led them up a sloping passageway lined by more statures and over a set of steps carved into the rock. In parts, they even had to duck slightly to avoid hitting the ceiling along the passageways.

"Isn't there a chance this lot's just going to collapse?" Amy asked after a long moment of silence, looking around at all the rock as they continued making their way through the maze, "There's a whole ship up there".

"Incredible builders, the Aplans," River remarked, shining her torch around.

"We had dinner with their Chief Architect once," the Doctor informed them cheerfully, gesturing to himself and the Hatter, "Two heads are better than one".

"What, you mean you helped him?" the red head frowned slightly at his back.

"Not quite," the Hatter glanced back at her, looking amused, "They had two heads, the Aplans, I mean," she shook her head, her eyes lingering on one of the statures for a moment with a small frown, feeling like she was missing something again, before continuing, "Personally, I've always thought that having two heads attached to the same body sounds exhausting. Imagine the fights!" she sighed, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "I dearly hope I never have to experience it myself. I had an Aunt who regenerated with two heads".

The Doctor shivered slightly, grimacing, "Oh, I remember her," he commented, "Vividly. She was my Godmother, remember?"

"Ah, yes, of course," she nodded, "Funny, I'd forgotten that," she shook her head at herself, but she supposed that it really wasn't that surprising that she would have forgotten. Her family was very large, after all, and had connections to every old House on Gallifrey, "Aside from the terrible breath, she was lousy at picking birthday presents, too".

"Surprisingly good dancer, though," he said thoughtfully, pausing in the middle of the passageway, glancing back to River, "That book, the very end, what did it say?" he asked her.

"Hang on…" River reached inside a small pack, shuffling the contents around.

"Read it to us".

She located the book and flipped it open to the last page, "'What if we had ideas that could think for themselves?'" she read aloud, "'What if one day our dreams no longer needed us? When these things occur and are held to be true, the time will be upon us. The time of Angels'".

The Time Lords exchanged a look before continuing on their way through the passage ways, climbing four more levels, shining there torches around carefully at each stature as they passed them.

"Are we there yet?" Amy groaned slightly as her legs began aching from all the stairs, "It's a hell of a climb".

"The Maze is on six levels, representing the ascent of the soul," River informed her, hardly seeming to be bothered by all the stairs, "Only two levels to go".

"You know, I quite liked the Aplans," the Hatter remarked, glancing at the Doctor, "It was amusing watching them finish their own sentences separately".

"We should visit them some time," the Doctor agreed, smiling at her, and looking over his shoulder briefly to Amy.

Amy frowned at their backs, "I thought they were all dead?"

"So is Virginia Woolf," he replied, shrugging, "The Hatter and I are on her bowling team. Very relaxed, sort of cheerful," he paused, seeming to be considering what he had just said, "Well, that's having two heads, of course," he flashed the Hatter a cheeky smile, nudging her side, "You're never short of a snog with an extra head".

The Time Lady would to remark when she stopped suddenly, her eyes lingering on a stature as, just for a moment, she thought she noticed something very wrong about the stature, but she just couldn't work out _what_.

"Doctor…Hatter, there's something…" River began, shaking her head as she frowned around the passageway, "I don't know what it is…"

"Yes, I know," the Hatter nodded, meeting her eyes as a troubled look crossed her face as she paused in front of one of the statures, shining her light at its head, feeling like whatever it was they were missing, it had something to do with the statures, "Something is very wrong, I just can't work out _what_ yet, but we're working on it".

River looked almost relieved and gave her a small smile, feeling slightly better knowing that the Time Lords were working on whatever it was they were all missing.

"Of course, then they started having laws against self-marrying," the Doctor commented, rolling his eyes slightly as he looked at the Hatter, "I mean, what was that all about?" he shook his head, "But that's the church for you…"

"Ah, sweetheart," the Time Lady coughed pointedly, nodding over to Octavian, who was giving him slightly annoyed look.

"Er…" he turned to Octavian, giving him an awkward look, "No offense, Bishop".

"Quite a lot taken, if that's all right, Doctor," Octavian glared at him, moving passed him as he led them down another passageway, this one growing more narrow, lined with even more statures, "Lowest point in the wreckage is only about fifty feet from here," he directed the beam of his torch further down the passage, "That way".

"The Church had a point, if you think about it," Amy remarked from just behind the Time Lords as Octavian glanced back to her, "The divorces must have been messy".

The Hatter stopped suddenly, her eyes widening in horror as it hit her, "Oh no…" she gasped, her eyes flying to stare at the nearest stature.

The Doctor stopped at once, looking at her in alarm as he followed her gaze, "Oh…" he breathed, stopping beside her as he grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.

Amy walked passed them before pausing, looking back to them when she realised they had stopped, "What's wrong?" she questioned, frowning at them, eyeing the look of horror on both their faces.

Everyone stopped and looked at them in concern, some of the clerics even grabbing their guns.

"Oh!" River's eyes widened too, catching on as she stared at one of the statures.

The Time Lady swallowed and looked over to her, "Why did we have to be right about something being wrong?" she sighed heavily.

"How could we have not noticed that?"

"Low level perception filter," the Doctor suggested, taking a step back from the stature, pulling the Hatter along with him as he grumbled, "Or maybe we're thick and the Hatter's having an off day".

The Hatter rolled her eyes and nudged his side sharply for his remark about her, "It's a perception filter," she determined, looking as if she very badly wanted to kick herself as she fixed her eyes on the stature before her, "We were so convinced it was only one of them that we didn't even think twice about any other possibilities, therefore, we didn't notice".

"What's wrong, sir, ma'am?" Octavian asked them sharply.

"Nobody move," the Doctor held up a finger to silence him, his eyes fixed on another stature, "Nobody move. Everybody stay exactly where they are".

"I'm so, so sorry, Bishop," the Time Lady winced, not even daring to look away from the stature in front of her, "Truly, I am," she took a deep breath, swallowing thickly, "The Doctor and I have made a terrible mistake and, I'm afraid, that we are all in a great deal of danger because of it".

"What danger?" Octavian questioned carefully.

"The Aplans," River called to him grimly, her eyes fixed on one of the statures.

"The Aplans?"

"They've got two heads".

"Yes, I got that," he nodded, frowning in confusion, "So?"

"So why don't the statures?" the Doctor pointed out, and everyone froze, their heads snapping over to look at the statures, finally noticing that they all only had one head. He shone his torch back down the passageway were River and the rest of the clerics were, "Everybody, over there, just move," River and the others did as he said, hurrying over to join Octavian and Amy, "Don't ask questions, don't speak," the Time Lords backed closer to the group as they gathered in an alcove, facing the statures, "Okay, I want you all to switch off your torches," he ordered back to the others.

"Sir?" Octavian said sharply.

"Just trust us," the Hatter told them quickly, switching her own torch off.

The others followed suit, switching off their torches as the Doctor was the only one left with his torch on, "Okay…" he spoke quietly, his eyes fixed on the stature in front of him as he grabbed the Time Lady's hand with his free one, "I'm going to turn off this one too, just for a moment".

River gave him a wary look, "Are you sure about this?"

He swallowed and the Hatter squeezed his hand, "No".

He turned off his torch and back on almost instantly. They all gasped in horror and fright as every stature in front of them had turned to face them. The Time Lords ran back down the passageway, making sure to keep an eye on the statures as they passed them.

"Oh, my God!" Amy exclaimed fearfully, staring at the statures with wide eyes, "They've moved," she ran after the Time Lords.

The Time Lords shone there torches around in every direction at the statures as they hurried further down the passageway to see that even one of the statures had moved into the path, reaching out towards them on its hands and knees.

"They're all Angels!" the Hatter announced grimly, not taking her eyes off the statures, "Each and every single one of them are Angels!"

"But they can't be," River shook her head, but nevertheless, kept her eyes on the statures.

"Clerics, keep watching them!" the Doctor called back to the rest of the group, carefully edging around the Angel sitting in the path with his eyes fixed on it as the Hatter followed close behind him.

They hurried back down the passage, looking down into a darkened alcove to see even more Angels had moved forward, reaching out towards them as Amy and River joined them.

"They're all Weeping Angels," the Time Lady breathed, swallowing at the sight as she shone her torch down into the alcove, "And they're all coming for us, every last one".

A couple of the clerics and Octavian approached them with their guns at the ready, shining the torches on their weapons around the alcove.

"But there was only one Angel on that ship," River insisted, looking at the Time Lords briefly before quickly focusing on one of the statures, "Just the _one_ , I swear".

"Could they have been here already?" Amy suggested.

The Hatter tilted her head thoughtfully, glancing at River, "Tell us, what happened to the Aplans?" she asked.

"Nobody knows," she replied, shaking her head.

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, "We know," they remarked, a hint of sadness in the Time Lady's voice.

"They don't look like Angels," Octavian commented, frowning as he eyed the disfigured, featureless statures all around them.

"And they're not fast," Amy added thoughtfully, her eyes fixed on one of the Angels, "You said they were fast. They should have got us by now".

"They've practically lost their form, slowly dying over centuries," the Hatter told them softly, narrowing her eyes at the Angels, shining her torch at them, "They must have been starving, trapped down here for all that time," she grimaced. She almost felt sorry for them, _almost_ being the key word, of course.

"Losing their image," she said slowly.

"And their image is their power," the Doctor straightened suddenly from examining one of the Angels, his eyes widening slowly in realisation, "Power…" he whirled around to look at the Hatter, shouting as he clapped his hands, "Power!"

"Oh, of course!" the Time Lady gasped, catching on to what he had worked out.

Amy looked back and forth between them, confused, "Doctor?" she questioned, "Hatter?"

"Don't you see?" he began turning around in a small circle on the spot, "All that radiation spilling out of the drive burn," he looked back to the others as the Hatter nodded along with him, "The crash of the Byzantium wasn't an accident, it was a _rescue_ mission for the Angels! We're in the middle of an _army_ , and it's waking up".

River took a deep breath, looking around at the others, "We need to get out of here fast".

Octavian clicked his comm. device, "Bob, Angelo, Christian, come in, please," he called over it, waiting for a moment, "Any of you, come in!"

"It's Bob, sir," Bob came over, and the Hatter frowned slightly, noticing something…off about his voice, "Sorry, sir".

"Bob, are Angelo and Christian with you? All the statures are active. I repeat, all the statures are active".

"I know, sir," he replied calmly, in fact, there was hardly any emotion in his voice at all, "Angelo and Christian are dead, sir," everyone's eyes widened in alarm, "The statures killed them, sir".

The Doctor grabbed the comm. device from Octavian, "Bob, Sacred Bob," he called over it, "It's me, the Doctor".

"I'm talking to…" Octavian began, frowning at him as he tried to snatch it back.

"Where are you now?" he asked over the top of the other man.

"I'm talking to…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up!" he held a finger up to silence him.

"I'm on my way up to you, sir," Bob informed him, "I'm homing in on your signal".

The Hatter smiled slightly as she leaned closer to the Doctor, but she couldn't help but feel like something very bad had happened on the other end of the comm., "Well, done, Bob," she said over the device, trying to sound cheerful, "I did tell you that fear could make you an unstoppable force, didn't I?" she glanced at the Doctor beside her, "But what about your other team mates, exactly what did the Angel do to them?"

"Snapped their necks, ma'am".

The Time Lady leaned back from the device, lowering her voice slightly, "That's not right," she shook her head, looking thoughtful, "The Angels displace there victims in time, unless…" she paused, her eyes drifting over to one of the statures, "Unless they either didn't have enough power, which is likely, or they needed the bodies for something…"

Octavian snatched the device off the Doctor, raising it to his mouth, "Bob," he spoke into it, "Did you check their data packs for vital signs?" the Doctor sighed, looking frustrated, "We may be able to initiate a rescue plan…"

"Oh, don't be an idiot!" the Doctor snapped, grabbing the device, "The Angels don't leave you alive!" he raised the device to his mouth as Octavian glared at him, "Bob, keep running," he instructed him before frowning slightly, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "But tell us, how did you escape?"

"I didn't escape, sir," Bob answered, "The Angel killed me, too".

He blinked, looking at the Hatter, who closed her eyes sadly, "What do you mean, the Angel killed you?" he asked over the comm.

"Snapped my neck, sir. Wasn't as painless as I expected, but it was pretty quick, so that was something".

"If you're dead, how can we be talking to you?"

The Hatter sighed heavily, shaking her head, "We're not talking to Bob, are we?" she leaned closer to the Doctor so she would be heard over the comm., "This is the Angel, the first one, I assume. The Angels don't have a voice, so…" she paused, swallowing as she meet the Doctor and Octavian's eyes, and took a deep breath, "And so they stole one. I'm guessing that the Angel must have stripped Bob's cerebral cortex from his body and then re-animated a version of his consciousness, thus, giving the Angel a voice to speak to us".

"That's right, ma'am," Bob came over, "Sorry about the confusion".

The Doctor nodded slowly, "So when you say _you're_ on your way up to us…?"

"It's the Angel that's coming, sir, yes".

He ended the link and turned the Hatter, shaking his head, "No way out".

"Then we can get out through the wreckage!" Octavian turned to his men, "Go!" he ordered them as they quickly did as they were told, River began ushering Amy after them, "Go, go, go! All of you run!"

Amy hesitated, noticing that the Time Lords had made no move to follow, "Doctor, Hatter?" she frowned at them.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're coming," the Doctor told her, nodding quickly as the Hater lightly pushed her after the others, giving her a comforting smile, "Just go. Go, go, go!" the others all ran down the passageway, leaving only the Time Lords and Octavian behind as he turned to him, "Yeah, called you an idiot," he said to him, "Sorry, but there's no way we could have rescued your men".

"I know that, sir," Octavian replied, his eyes flickering across the Hatter, "And when you two have flown away in your little blue box, I'll explain that to their families".

He turned and walked after the rest of the group, leaving them staring after his back.

The Hatter sighed and closed her eyes briefly, shaking her head, "He's just lost four of his men," she glanced at the Doctor, "Honestly, I think I would have been more worried had he not said something like that to us, and…" she paused before continuing, "He might have made a good point".

The Doctor sighed and nodded, knowing that Octavian did have a point, but they couldn't think about that, not right now. He lifted the comm. up to his mouth, clicking it back on, "Angel Bob," he called over it, "Which Angel are we talking to? The first one, like the Hatter said, from the ship?"

"Yes, sir," Bob came over, "And the other Angels are restoring".

The Time Lords exchanged a quick, grim smile, "Ah, so the Angel is not in the wreckage," he remarked, "Thank you," he ended the link, grabbed the Hatter's hand, and they ran down the passageway, after the others, only to see Amy standing only around the corner, holding onto an old, wooden railing, "Don't wait for us!" he told her as they ran passed her, "Go, run!"

"I can't!" Amy exclaimed, making them came to a skidding halt, turning back around to her. The Hatter frowned down at her hand on the railing, seeing nothing wrong with it as she reached out to touch it, "No, really, I can't," she insisted, shaking her head.

"I don't understand," the Hatter gave her a look crossed between confusion and concern, glancing at the Doctor, who looked as confused as she did, "Why can't you move it?"

"Look at it!" she cried, gesturing with her other hand towards it, "Look at my hand. It's stone!"

They looked back down to her hand, but it still looked perfectly fine to them, completely human and most certainly not stone.

The Hatter eyed her for a moment before groaning, realising what must have happened, "Oh, dear…" she sighed, lifting her torch up to examine Amy's eyes, giving her a apologetic look as she blinked rapidly, trying to turn her head away, "That Angel in the unit…you looked into its eyes, didn't you?"

"I couldn't stop myself," she tried to defend herself as the Doctor ran a hand over his face, "I tried".

"Listen to me," the Doctor caught her attention, meeting her eyes firmly, "It's messing with your head. Your hand is _not_ made of stone".

"It is. Look at it!"

"Amelia," the Hatter put her hands on her shoulders, making her look at her, "I promise you, your hand is not made of stone. You can move it, just let go of the railing".

"I can't, okay?" she shook her head stubbornly, beginning to grow frustrated with them, "I've tried and I can't. It's stone!"

The torches began flickering and the Hatter eyed it nervously.

The Doctor looked warily down at the torch in his hand before looking back up to Amy, "The Angel is going to come and it's going to turn this light off, and then there's nothing the Hatter or I can do to stop it, so do it," he tried to encourage her, "Concentrate. Move your hand!"

"I _can't_!"

"Then the three of us are all going to die," the Hatter told her, her voice sounding surprisingly light, despite the situation, "And probably the others, too, without our help".

"You're not going to die!"

The Doctor looked behind her, back down the passageway, eyeing the statures, "They'll kill the lights".

The torches flickered again, this time even more erratically, and the Angels moved forward.

"You've got to go," Amy looked back and forth between the Time Lords, her eyes wide as she tried to reason with them, "You know you have! You've got all that stuff with River and that's all got to happen. You know you can't die here!"

"Time can be rewritten, it doesn't work like that," he replied firmly, shaking his head. The lights flickered again, this time for second longer, and the Angels moved even closer as Amy turned to look at them over her shoulder, "Keep your eyes on it," he told her quickly, "Don't blink".

"Run!"

"Yeah, we're not going," the Hatter insisted, keeping her eyes fixed on the Angels, "And we are most certainly not going to just leave you here".

"I don't need you two to die for me! Do I look that clingy?"

"You can move your hand," the Doctor tried again.

"It's stone!"

"It's really not!" the Time Lady sighed loudly.

"You've got to go! Those people up there will die without you two. If you stay with me, you'll have as good as killed them!"

"Amy Pond, you are magnificent," the Doctor pressed his forehead against the back of her head as the Hatter and Amy kept there eyes of the Angels, "And I'm sorry".

"It's okay," Amy swallowed fearfully, "I understand. You've got to leave me…"

He broke into a grin, "Oh, no, we're not leaving you, never," he shook his head, "I'm sorry about this," he turned and bit her hand, making Amy jump, yelping in pain as she whirled around. He laughed, "See? Not stone. Now run!"

She stared down at her hand, looking shocked, "You bit me!" she exclaimed.

"Never mind that, you're alive," the Hatter said to her, looking amused as she grabbed her other hand, pulling her back down the passageway, keeping their eyes on the Angels as they moved.

"Look, I've got a mark!" she held up her hand to the Doctor, waving it around at him, "Look at my hand!"

"Yes, and you're alive, did we mention?" the Doctor rolled his eyes slightly, grabbing her and pushing her behind him as he focused on the Angels.

"Blimey, your teeth! Have you got space teeth?"

"Oh, stop fussing," the Time Lady shook her head, looking even more amused, "Time Lords mouths are cleaner than humans. Now, come on!"

She grabbed Amy's arm and the Doctor's, pulling them backwards down the passageway. They ran around the corner and off down the passageway, until they found an archway that led into a large, opened spaced cavern were all the clerics and River were standing, holding flickering torches as they stood beneath the crashed _Byzantium_ sticking out of the roof, parts of it still burning.

"Clerics, we're down four men," they could hear Octavian calling to his men as they entered the room, "Expect incoming".

"Yeah, it's the Angels," the Doctor told them, moving over towards the group, shining his torch around, "They're coming. And they're draining the power for themselves".

"Which means we won't be able to see them," he realised.

"And we certainly can't stay here," the Hatter added, turning around slowly in a circle on the spot, her mind racing.

"Two more incoming!" Octavian announced urgently to everyone, catching sight of two Angels moving in from down one of the passageways, preparing his gun.

River stepped closer to the Time Lords as the clerics all took up positions around the room, keeping watch, "Any suggestions?" she asked them.

"The statures are advancing on all sides," Octavian informed them, looking up at the crashed ship, shaking his head, "We don't have the climbing equipment to reach the _Byzantium_ ".

"There's no way up, no way back, no way out," River looked at the Time Lords quickly, "No pressure, but this is usually when you have a _really_ good idea".

"There's always a way out," the Time Lady breathed, her eyes flying around the space, her mind racing, "Nothing is impossible…"

The lights began flickering off and on again, and the Angels moved closer, blocking off the passageways. The Doctor took her hand, squeezing it tightly, his own mind racing, trying to come up with a plan.

"Hatter?" Bob's voice came over the comm. suddenly, making the Hatter blink in mild surprise that he would ask for her, "Can I speak to the Hatter, please?"

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and handed the Time Lady the device, looking almost as surprised as her. She held it up to her mouth, "It's the Hatter, hello," she spoke into it, tilting her head curiously, "Anything I can do for you? Well…" she paused, seeming to be considering what she had just said, "Aside from the obvious and let you kill us all, of course," she finished, sounding almost cheerful.

"Your power will not last much longer, and the Angels will be with your shortly. Sorry, ma'am".

She narrowed her eyes, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "Yes, we've kind of worked that part of your plan out already," she replied, "But why are you bothering to tell us?"

"There's something the Angels are very keen you should know before the end".

"I don't suppose it's going to be your recipe for rock cakes?" the Doctor struggled to stop himself from bursting out laughing, only managing to stop himself with the knowledge she was trying to cover up just how unnerved she actually was. She nudged his side, casting him a look, "Either way, I would love to hear it, Angels," she said calmly into the device.

"I died in fear".

She froze, inhaling sharply, "Excuse me?"

"You told me that my fear would make be unstoppable and keep me alive, but I died afraid, in pain and alone," the Doctor squeezed her hand tighter, casting her a worried look, but she hardly seemed to even notice, her eyes fixed straight ahead of her, "You made me trust you, and when it mattered, you let me down".

Amy frowned and leaned closer to River, "What are they doing?" she whispered to her.

"They're trying to make her angry," River whispered back to her, looking at the Time Lords backs.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Bob continued, "The Angels were very keen for you to know that".

"Oh, that was a very big mistake," the Hatter said over the comm., her voice sounding soft, but she was almost shaking with anger, "Almost as big as your first mistake," she paused, taking a deep breath, trying to keep her compose, "How dare you try to use my own words against me? How dare you try to use an innocent's man's life, which _you_ ended, by the way, against me? Because that, above all, is unforgeable. Do you hear that voice that you stole? He had a life, possibly even loved ones, and because of you that's all gone, and you think that trying to anger me is a good idea?" she laughed hollowly, shaking her head, her voice taking on a dangerous edge, "Believe me, I will forever regret what happened to that poor man. No one deserves to die alone and afraid, but I promise to whatever is left of Bob, and I always keep my promises, that the Angels will be far sorrier".

"But you're trapped, ma'am, and about to die".

"Didn't you hear what I said?" she called back, almost mockingly, "You made your first mistake quite some time ago, because this trap has a very, very big flaw," she spun around on the spot to look at the Doctor, giving him a wink, lowering her voice to whisper in his ear, "Shatter the gravity globe, sweetheart".

As she pulled back from him he stared at her, opening and closing mouth, when it hit him. Even while she was struggling to regain control of her temper, she was still thinking of a way to get out of this. He almost kissed her just out of sheer admiration of how brilliant she could be.

"What mistake, ma'am?" Bob questioned.

The Doctor grinned and turned to Amy, "Trust me?"

Amy didn't even hesitate, nodding, "Yeah".

He looked at River, "Trust me?"

She smiled slowly, "Always".

He looked over to Octavian and his men, "You lot, trust me?"

"Sir, two incoming!" one of the clerics called urgently

Octavian meet his eyes, "We have faith, sir," he replied.

"Then give me your gun," he held out his hand, and Octavian handed him a pistol. He quickly prepared it before glancing back around to the others, "I'm about to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous…"

"Hey, watch it," the Hatter shot him a look, "You could at least mention how clever it is, too".

He smiled at her and quickly kissed her cheek, "Yes, and brilliant, thanks to my clever, possibly mad wife…"

She grinned broadly at him, giving him an approving look, "That's better, sweetheart".

He shook his head fondly at her, forcing his attention back on the task at hand as he looked around at the others once more, "When I do…" he jumped on the spot, "Jump".

"Jump where?" Octavian asked, looking around.

"Just jump, high as you can," he lightly hit his shoulder, "Come on, leap of faith, Bishop! On my signal," he turned away from him.

"What signal?"

"You won't miss it," he aimed the gun up at the gravity glob high above them, clicking the safety off.

"Sorry, can I ask again?" Bob called over the comm., "You mentioned a mistake we made".

The Hatter passed the device to the Doctor, having enough of talking to the Angel for the time being, and he lifted it up to his mouth with one hand, "Oh, big mistake," he spoke into it, "Two, really. Huge. Firstly, you tried to get at my wife, you tried hurt and anger her, and believe me, that never goes well, especially when I'm around, because I won't just forget that. Still…" he paused, glancing at the Time Lady, who raised an eyebrow at him, "It does tell me that you are either brave or very stupid to even try to, since she has one of the worst tempers".

"Let's go with stupid here, Doctor," the Hatter cut in, giving him a look, but there was a hint of amusement in her tone.

He smiled slightly, but quickly turned serious again, "Secondly…" he said into the comm. once more, "Didn't anyone ever tell you there's one thing you never put in a trap?" his voice took on an edge, "If you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there is one thing you never, ever put in a trap," his eyes fixed on the gravity globe.

"And what would that be, sir?"

"Us!"

And he fired at the gravity globe, causing it to explode…

 _ **I hope you guys aren't too disappointed that we didn't get more of a reaction from the Hatter when Angel Bob tried to make her angry, but it really isn't in her character to start shouting. I've always thought that when people shout when they are angry, it's because they've lost control, but being angry and still being completely in control is so much frightening, and that's certainly the case with the Hatter. She'll shout at the Doctor or the Master, but that's because she's known them for so long that she can sort of let her emotions go a bit more then she normally would.**_

 _ **I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **It's not really that the Hatter knows everything while the Doctor doesn't, it's just that she tends to think a little bit faster. She's used to working under presser, having to think on her feet, she knows how to deal with that stress because for most of her life, that's what she's had to do every day. Her job during the Time War was extremely busy and she needed to get the work done quickly, otherwise, the Time Lords wouldn't have the weapons to be able to fight the Daleks and she was also under presser from both the High Council and the War Council. She was also under similar pressure before she left Gallifrey and throughout her travels, and it's become second nature to her to look at the problem and find a solution. You also have to take in account that she spent several more years studying after the Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey, and that she managed to pass her schooling, while the Doctor only just scraped through on his second try in canon.**_

 _ **I'm afraid I can't say anything about Amy's Choice just now, but I'll definitely keep your suggestion in mind, same with pushing the Hatter over the edge. The idea of the Hatter going over to the dark side is a very interesting one and I've actually considered writing a story in which Good Hatter meets what she might have become had one small detail about her life had changed, so I'll keep those in mind. Thank you for the suggestion and the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **Hello, and I would love to do the Key to Time season. It's among one of my favourite Fourth Doctor's seasons, plus it has the first appearance of Romana, the White and Black Guardians, and we meet Drax, another Time Lord who actually knew and went to school with the Doctor. Also, I would love to do the Trial of a Time Lord. I'll keep them in mind should I ever get the time. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (3):**_ _ **I love that idea, it would be so interesting to see the Hatter's reaction to meeting the Doctor from the TV Universe, who doesn't know nor even like her at first. It's already practically written it's self in my head, I can see it happening with the Fourth Doctor, more than the others for some reason. I agree, the Doctor would help her get back to her own Universe, but there wouldn't be that same emotional connection between them, because he had never known her before, and would probably just go on to think of her as being another Time Lady from a world in which his other counterpart are best friends. But the Hatter would be very happy and proud to see that even without her, the Doctor's still the Doctor, but I also think she would be a little sad that he never had someone who he could truly be himself around while growing up. I'll definitely be keeping this in mind to do once I get the chance. Thanks for the review :)**_


	9. Chapter 9 Flesh and Stone, Part 1

_**Flesh and Stone, Part 1**_

Everyone found themselves on the ground as they recovered from the jump, looking around in mild confusion as they slowly struggled back onto their feet, "Up!" the Doctor called to them all, already back on his feet as he quickly helped the Time Lady up, "Look up!"

"Are you okay?" River asked Amy, helping her stand.

Amy pressed a hand to her head, looking around, confused, "What happened?" she questioned.

"We jumped," she answered.

"Jumped where?"

"Everyone, look up!" the Hatter told them all quickly, her eyes fixed up above them, before flicking down towards the floor, looking thoughtful. She noticed a circular panel on the floor, hardly noticeable, and quickly knelt beside it, running a hand over the cool metal.

"Where are we?"

"Exactly where we were," River informed her, smiling.

Amy frowned at her, "No, we're not".

"Doctor, sonic," the Time Lady gestured to him, breaking into a small grin.

The Doctor looked over to her and smiled, too, catching onto what she was planning. He stepped over to her, glancing at Amy, "Move your feet," he said to her, flashing his sonic around the circular panel.

Amy blinked and took a step back, still looking terribly confused, "What am I looking at?" she looked back up, "Explain!"

"Oh, come on, Amy, think!" the Doctor straightened, turning to her, "The ship crashed with the power still on, yeah? So what else is still on?"

Amy took a moment to really look at where they were standing and found, much to her shock and amazement, that they were standing on the bottom of the crashed ship, upside down, looking down to where the Angels stood below in the place they had been standing only moments before.

"It's the artificial gravity," the Hatter looked over to her, smiling at the look on her face, "All it took was one good and well timed jump, and up we fell," she explained, glancing around to the others, "Shooting the grav-globe gave us an updraft, hence, us being up here now".

The Doctor whirled around to her, flashing her a grin, "Did I ever tell you how much you still manage to surprise me?"

She tilted her head in mock consideration, "Not nearly enough, sweetheart".

"Well, you do," he wrapped an arm around her waist, kissing her cheek quickly, "Every single day".

"Well, I wouldn't want to become too protectable. I have to find a way to keep you ready for anything".

"The statures…" Octavian began, staring up…or down, depending on your view point, towards the Angels as the Time Lords focused their attention back on the panel, "They look more like Angels now," he remarked, eyeing how some of them had even began developing wings and more defined facial features.

"They're feeding on the radiation from the wreckage, draining all the power from the ship, restoring themselves," the Doctor replied, glancing back up to the others, pausing as he flashed his sonic at the panel, "Within an hour, they'll be an army".

The panel opened to reveal a hatch leading inside the ship, just as the lights dotted around the hatch began going out with violent sparks, the sound of glass shattering sounding around them.

The Hatter winced, holding up her arm to shield her eyes from the sparking, "It's the Angels, they're taking out the lights," she sighed heavily, lowering her arm to look around at the clerics, "Look at the Angels, just keep looking at them".

The Doctor moved forward and helped her to balance herself on the edge of the hatch, her legs dangling down into the corridor, "Into the ship, now," he called to the others as the Hatter closed her eyes and let herself drop down into the ship, "Quickly, all of you!" he dropped through the hatch after her.

"But how?" Amy asked, looking over towards them, only to see that they were no longer there, "Doctor, Hatter!" she knelt by the hatch, peering down to see the Doctor straightening from his landing as the Time Lady stood beside him, giving her a cheeky wave and wink.

"It's perfectly fine, Amy," the Hatter assured her, grinning up at her, "As always, the gravity orientates towards the floor. Just close your eyes if you need to".

"Now, in here, all of you!" the Doctor ordered everyone, "Don't take your eyes off the Angels," the sound of another light sparking outside echoed through the corridor towards them, "Move, move, move!"

The Time Lords turned to a keypad on the side of the wall, the Doctor flashing his sonic at it as Amy and River slipped through the hatch.

"Okay, men, go, go, go!" Octavian commanded his men, ushering them through the hatch, before following after them. He joined the Time Lords as the Doctor checked the results from the sonic, "The Angels, presumably they can jump up too?" he glanced at them.

The hatch closed behind them and the lights began flickering inside the corridor.

"They're here," the Hatter remarked quietly, her eyes drifting up towards the flicking lights, "If we stay here and they turn off the lights, which they will, then that's it," she exchanged a quick look with the Doctor, "They'll kill us all".

An alarm began blearing and behind them, a large circular door started sliding shut.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing the Time Lady's hand, racing towards it, but it slid shut before they could reach it, trapping them.

"This whole place is a death trap!" Octavian ran after them.

"No, it's a time bomb," he spun back around to face them as River and Amy joined them, "Well, it's a death trap _and_ a time bomb. And no, it's a dead end. Nobody panic," he told the others, his eyes wide.

The sound of something pounding on the hatch outside echoed throughout the room and it began sparking as the Angels tried to force their way inside.

He glanced at the others to see them staring at him, "Oh, just me, then," he finished, blushing faintly, obviously having expected someone else to have been panicking.

The Hatter smiled sympathetically at him, patting his arm, "Braveheart, Doctor," she remarked to him.

"That's what I used to say," he blinked at her, giving her an almost accusing look.

"Well, it helped Tegan, I figured I might as well try it on you," she shrugged, giving him a fond smile before quickly growing serious again, glancing at the door behind them, "Tell me, where does this door led to?" she asked the others.

"Secondary flight deck," River informed them quickly.

"Okay…" Amy nodded slowly, looking around the corridor, "So we've basically run up the inside of a chimney, yeah?" she glanced at the Time Lords, her eyes growing wide, "So what if the gravity falls?"

River stepped off the side of the corridor, catching sight of another keypad, and pulled off the front panel, fiddling with the wires inside, trying to bypass the power to the door.

The Doctor looked at Amy, "I've thought about that," he admitted.

"And?" Amy raised her eyebrows at him.

"And we all plunge to our deaths," he replied, making the Time Lady close her eyes in mild exasperation as Amy's eyes widened even more, "See? I've thought about it".

"Really not helping, sweetheart," the Hatter cut in, clearing her throat pointedly as she reached across to lightly pat Amy's arm.

He turned back to her, seeming to be considering what she had said, "Yeah, I should have added 'screaming to our deaths,'" he commented thoughtfully.

The Time Lady sighed heavily, "That's really not what I mean, but suit yourself," she shook her head and stepped closer to River, looking at the wires, "Right, the security protocols are still going to be active, and I'm afraid that there's no way to override them".

"It's impossible," the Doctor agreed.

"How impossible?" River asked at once, twisting one of the wires as she cast the hatch a quick look.

The Hatter's mouth twitched, glancing at her, "About two minutes, possibly even less," she forced herself to focus back on the task at hand and turned to face the door. She spotted a panel on the door and quickly crouched beside it, pulling the top off it as she began fiddling with the wires within as the Doctor knelt beside her, flashing his sonic at the wires.

The engines hummed loudly, powering down as the lights flickered. Everyone looked back across to the hatch, only to find that it was open. The Time Lords jumped back up, their eyes wide as they stared at the open hatch, not having expected the Angels to have opened it quite so soon.

"The hull is breached and the power's failing," Octavian announced, eyeing the hatch warily.

Suddenly, all the lights went out and turned back on instantly, revealing an Angel's arm reaching through the hatch.

"Sir, incoming!" one of the cleric called through the dimly lit space.

"You two, lights!" Amy shouted urgently, her eyes fixed on the arm.

The Hatter lightly pushed River out of the way of the panel, giving the Doctor a chance to flash his sonic at the wires, desperately trying to get the lights back on. For a moment, it worked and the lights flickered back on to show an Angel trying to climb inside the corridor, when the lights flickered again and four more Angels appeared out of the darkness in the corridor, the hatch closed behind them.

"Clerics, keep watching them," Octavian ordered as the lights continued to flicker, aiming his gun at the Angels.

"And don't look at their eyes," the Doctor added as Amy gasped, staring at the Angels fearfully, "Anywhere else. Not the eyes," he turned back to the panel, flashing his sonic at the wires once more as the corridor was filled with light, "We've isolated the lighting grid. They can't drain the power now".

"Good work," Octavian remarked, smiling as the Hatter whirled back around towards the door, kneeling beside the panel on it.

"Yes, isn't it just wonderful?" the Hatter nodded, her voice sounding falsely cheerful as she looked back up to them. She gave the Doctor a look and he sighed heavily, casting the lights a nervous look as he realised what she had discovered.

"Yes, good," the Doctor said nervously, turning to Octavian, "Good, good. Good in many ways, good you like it so far…" he exchanged a look with the Hatter, who nodded grimly as she stood.

"So far?" Amy repeated, frowning at him and the Time Lady.

"You see, there's only one way to get this door open," the Hatter informed them, her hand reaching up to toy with her bowtie as the Doctor moved across to another panel, removing the top off it, "We'll have to route all the power in this section through the door control to open it…" she explained, talking fast.

"Good," Octavian nodded, not seeing what was wrong, "Fine. Do it".

"That includes the lights," she finished, giving him a pointed look, "All of the lights, Bishop. We have to turn them off if we are going to get out of here".

"How long for?"

She and the Doctor exchanged a quick look, "Ah…about a fraction of a second?" she replied after a moment, looking back to Octavian, giving him an apologetic look, "Possibly longer…."

"Possibly?"

"We're guessing," the Doctor ran a hand down his face, throwing an anxious look back over towards the Angels, "We're being attacked by statures in a crashed ship, there isn't a manual for this!"

"Yes, and he would have thrown it out after he disagreed with it," the Hatter commented, shaking her head almost fondly.

He pointed at her, "That only happened once…" he paused, seeming to consider what he had just said, "Okay, maybe twice…"

She laughed, glad that trick had worked. She had hoped that by trying to use banter she might be able to calm the Doctor down, even just a little bit, because the last thing they needed right now was for the Doctor to start panicking. That never ended well.

"We lost the torches," Amy cut in as the Time Lords got back to work on the door, "We'll be in total darkness!"

The Hatter turned back around to look at her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We know, Amy, and we're sorry," she sighed, giving her a understanding look, "But there's really no other way".

"Bishop?" the Doctor looked across to the man.

Octavian eyed him and the Time Lady carefully before looking at River, "Doctor Song, I've lost good Clerics today," River faced them, "Do you trust this man and woman?"

River didn't even hesitate, "I absolutely trust them," she answered.

He narrowed his eyes at the Time Lords, who exchanged smiles, "They're not some kind of madman and woman, then?"

She blinked, this time actually hesitating, "I absolutely trust them".

"Well said," the Hatter grinned, giving River a wink, her eyes flickering over to Octavian, who didn't seem completely convince, "Now, do excuse us," she reached forward, quickly patting River's shoulder, "We've got work to do".

She and the Doctor turned back to the door, setting to work as Amy joined them, watching.

Octavian stepped closer to River, fixing her with a very serious look, "I'm taking your word, because you're the only one who can manage these two," he said quietly to her as River tried hard not to roll her eyes. No one could manage those two, except for each other, "But that only works so long as neither of them know who you are," he continued, his expression turning hard, "You cost me any more men, and I might just tell them. Understood?"

River meet his eyes, swallowing, "Understood," she nodded.

"Okay," he raised his voice back to normal level, glancing behind him to the Time Lords, "We've got your backs".

"Bless you," the Doctor remarked, still busy working on the door with the Time Lady as they connected two circuits with wires onto large wheel on the door, hooked up to the ships inner circuits, "Bishop".

Octavian faced the clerics, "Combat distance, ten feet," he ordered them and they did as they were told, moving into position, "As soon as the lights go down, continues fire. Full spread over the hostiles. Do not stop firing while the lights are out. Shot gun protocol, we don't have bullets to waste".

"Okay, Amy," the Hatter straightened and looked to the red head as they finished connecting the wires to the wheel on the door, "When the lights go out, this wheel should release," Amy stepped forward, grabbing the wheel, "You need to spin it clockwise four times. Got it?"

"Ten," Amy nodded, looking back up to them.

"No, _four_ ," the Doctor corrected her quickly as the Time Lady gave her a look crossed between concern and confusion. Her accent definitely wasn't strong enough for someone, let alone someone Scottish to mishear what she said, " _Four_ turns," he stressed.

"Yeah, four," she frowned at him, looking completely confused, "I heard the Hatter".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, both knowing that something was definitely wrong, but they didn't have enough time to sort it out just now. The Doctor moved across to the panel as the Time Lady stepped over to where the door would open, ready to usher people inside.

"Ready?" he called to the others, slotting his sonic into the mess of wires within the controls of the circuit, glancing back over to the clerics.

"On my count, then," Octavian began, swallowing as he faced the Angels, "God be with us all. Three… two…one!" the lights went out, "Fire!"

Immediately, the clerics opened fire on the Angels as the Doctor used his sonic on the door. River, Amy, and the Hatter tried to open the door, struggling to turn the wheel, all the while the Angels steadily approached from out of the dark.

"Turn!" the Doctor shouted, trying to reach over to help open the door.

"Quickly!" River urged.

"Open, you blasted thing!" the Hatter groaned, scrunching up her face with the effort.

"Its opening, it's working!" Amy suddenly cried excitedly as the door began rolling open.

Amy and River ran through the gap in the door, slipping through as the Time Lady hurried behind them. She wasn't keen on leaving the Doctor or the others behind, but she knew that they would need to get to the flight deck quickly, and while she might not have had the sonic screwdriver, she could at least get the next control panel ready.

"Fall back!" the Doctor's voice came from behind the door over the gun fire. The clerics began hurrying through into the corridor as the Time Lady managed to get the next doors control panel open, fiddling with the wires at the other end of the corridor.

The gun fire stopped completely as Octavian, quickly followed by the Doctor, slipped through the gap, and the door closed behind them. The Doctor raced down the corridor to the Time Lady, flashing his sonic at the circuits as the Angels banged on the door they had just ran through. The door slid open and Octavian stepped inside first with his clerics, followed by Amy and River.

"Doctor, Hatter!" River called from the other side of the door, "Quickly!"

The Hatter cast the Doctor a worried look, knowing that as long as he had the sonic pressed to the controls the door would remain open, before quickly following after the others, and into the flight deck. She ran across to the controls, sighing as she took in the state of the place with wires and cables sticking out all over the place from the crash.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted, realising he hadn't followed after them yet.

The door began rolling closed and the Doctor just managed to slip through before it closed completely, hurrying around the controls to join the Time Lady in the middle of the room. They began working at one of the control panels.

A loud bang sounded throughout the room and Amy looked over to the door they had just ran through, her eyes widening, "Doctor!" she shouted, seeing the wheel start to spin as the Angels attempted to break inside the room. Octavian hurried over to the door and stuck a device above the wheel, "What are you doing?" she questioned, watching him curiously.

"Magnetising the door," Octavian replied, hitting a button on the side of the device, and a little red light flashed on it, just as the wheel stopped spinning. He looked back over to them, smiling slightly, "Nothing could turn that wheel now".

"You think so?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, almost seeming amused.

The wheel turned, this time slowly.

His head snapped back towards the door, looking shocked, "Dear God!" he exclaimed.

"Ah, now you're getting it!" the Doctor grinned, moving around to another control panel, picking up a plug, "You've bought us time, though. That's good," he threw the plug back down and stepped back over to the Hatter's side, giving her a wink, "We're good with time".

The Time Lady flashed him a cheeky smile, "So good, in fact, we even have a Lord and Ladyship in it".

"And a Damehood," he added, giving her a teasing look, knowing how much she hated that title.

As expected, the Hatter groaned and nudged his side sharply, "Way to ruin the moment, sweetheart," she muttered.

"Look!" Amy suddenly cried, spotting that the wheel on a second door had begun spinning, too.

"Seal that door," Octavian ordered his men, "Seal it now!" one of the cleric moved forward and stuck another magnetic device to the second door, locking it into place.

"We're surrounded!" River looked around the room, her eyes landing on the third door as its wheel began spinning, too.

"Seal it!" Octavian nodded to the third door, and another one of his men hurried over to it, "Seal that door!" the cleric locked a third device onto the door, sealing it as he looked over to the Time Lords, "How long have we got?" he questioned them.

The Hatter gave the doors a thoughtful look, tilting her head, "Ooh…about five minutes," she estimated, looking back down to the controls as she typed, "That's at the very most".

"Nine," Amy remarked.

The Time Lords looked across to her, "Five," they corrected, eyeing her.

She blinked at them, "Five," she nodded slowly, "Right, yeah".

"Why'd you say nine?" the Doctor gave her a careful look.

She frowned at them, seeming completely confused, "I didn't".

The Hatter opened her mouth, still eyeing Amy when River spoke, "We need another way out of here," she said, looking around the rest of the room.

"There isn't one," Octavian shook his head.

"Yeah, there is, course there is," the Doctor turned away from the control panel, turning to face the wall behind them, seeming to be looking at it carefully, "This is a galaxy class ship, goes for years between planet falls. So…" he clicked his fingers and spun back around to face the rest of the room as the Hatter broke into a broad smile, catching on, "What do they need?"

"Of course…" River breathed in realisation, her head snapping up to look at the Time Lords.

"Exactly," the Hatter pointed to her, giving her a wink.

"Of course, what?" Amy frowned again, looking lost as she glanced over to River, "What do they need?"

"Can we get in there?" Octavian asked, obviously having worked it out, too.

The Time Lady stepped closer to the wall, looking it over closely, "It's a sealed unit, but they would have had to install it and have accesses to it in case of emergencies…" she ran a hand down the wall, trying to feel for any panels, "Really, it ought to simply slide up…"

"There's clamps!" the Doctor called, catching sight of the clamps that had been hidden from view by two large boxes. He pushed them out of the way, reaching inside his pocket, "Release the clamps!" he withdrew his sonic and flashed it at one of the clamps.

"What's through there?" Amy questioned, watching them work, "What do they need?"

River turned to her, "They need to breathe".

The wall slowly began sliding upwards as the Time Lords took a small step back, smiling as they admired the view.

"But that's…" the red head stared, amazed as a huge forest was revealed, filled with trees and moss covered ground, "That's a…"

"It's an oxygen factory," River nodded as the Hatter looked back over to Amy, grinning at the look on her face.

"It's a forest".

"Yeah, it's a forest. It's an oxygen factory".

"And if we're lucky, an escape route," the Doctor added, eyeing the forest before them.

Amy laughed softly, "Eight".

The Time Lords paused, exchanging a sharp look.

"What did you say?" River frowned over at the red head.

Amy looked back over to her and shook her head, once again seeming confused as to what they were going on about, "Nothing," she said, looking back to the forest.

"Right, then," the Hatter tried to hide her concern for Amy as she eyed the forest, "Tell me, is there another exit?" she glanced at Octavian, "Please do a scan of the architecture, the last thing we need today is to end up getting lost in a forest'.

"On it," Octavian nodded, hurrying forward and into the forest, holding up a small device as he scanned, "Stay where you are until I've checked the Rad levels," he called back to them.

"But trees, on a space ship?" Amy laughed, moving closer to the Time Lords, still looking amazed.

"Oh, more than trees, way better then trees," the Doctor grinned, glancing at her, "You're going to love this," he strolled forward, stepping into the forest, and looked up at the trees, "Treeborgs!" he reached over to one of the tress and pulled a piece of the moss away to reveal circuitry within, "Trees plus technology!" he leaned closer to the tree, examining the moss covered trunk, "Branches become cables, become senses of the hull".

"This forest sucks in starlight and turns it into air," the Hatter explained brightly to Amy, glancing at her, "Oh, and it even _rains_. How brilliant is that?" she laughed, turning back to the forest. She always did have a soft spot for gardens and forest, to bad plants really didn't like her, "This forest has its own mini-climate".

The Doctor looked back over to them, smiling broadly at just how excited the Time Lady looked as she took in all the trees. He would have to make a mental note of how much she liked the forest, perhaps he could make a little forest area in the TARDIS gardens, "This vault is an ecoped running right through the heart of the ship," he stepped back over to the edge of the flight deck, "A forest in a bottle, on a space ship, in a maze," his eyes came to rest on Amy, "Have we impressed you yet, Amy Pond?"

Amy opened her mouth, seeming lost for words as she laughed, "Seven".

"Seven?" the Time Lady repeated, frowning worriedly as she faced the girl. The Doctor joined them, eyeing Amy.

"Sorry, what?" she blinked at them, looking back and forth between them.

"You said 'seven,'" the Doctor told her, studying her face closely.

"No, I didn't…"

"Yes, you did," River interrupted her, her expression turning concerned as she eyed Amy.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Octavian called from where he was still scanning the forest, looking over to them, "There's an exit, far end of the ship, into the Primary Flight Deck".

"Oh, good," the Doctor nodded, looking away from Amy briefly, "That's where we need to go".

"Plotting a safe path now," he focused back on the device in his hands.

"Please do so quickly," the Hatter added, glancing over to him, sighing slightly, "We can't stay here for much longer, I'm afraid".

"Doctor?" Bob's voice came over the comm. and the Time Lady winced, glad that he hadn't asked for her that time, "Excuse me? Hello, Doctor?" the Doctor reached inside his pocket and pulled out the comm. device, stepping over to where the captain's chair was in the middle of the room, flopping down onto it, "Angel Bob here, sir".

"Ah…there you are, Angel Bob," the Doctor held the device up to his mouth, grabbing the Hatter's hand as he spoke, "How's life? Sorry," he pretended to grimace, flashing the Hatter a wink, "Bad subject".

"Cheeky," the Time Lady commented quietly, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"The Angels are wondering what you hope to achieve," Bob said.

"Achieve?" he raised his eyebrows, "We're not archiving anything. We're just hanging. It's nice in here," he shrugged, casting his eyes around the room, "The consoles, comfy chairs, a _forest_. How's things with you?"

"The Angels are feasting, sir. Soon we will be able to absorb enough power to consume this vessel, this world, and all the stars and worlds beyond".

The Doctor glanced at the Hatter, "Well, we have comfy chairs, did I mention?"

"We have no need for comfy chairs".

He grinned at the Time Lady, who laughed, "I made him say comfy chairs," he remarked brightly.

"Nicely done, sweetheart," the Hatter leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek, making his grin widen even more.

Amy laughed behind them, leaning against one of the control panels, "Six," she smiled.

The Time Lady sighed, her laughter fading quickly as she took the comm. from the Doctor, holding it up to her mouth, "Right, I think that's enough niceties," she called over the device, narrowing her eyes, "We want to know what you did to Amy?"

"There is something in her eye," Bob replied.

The Doctor stood, moving closer to the Hatter as Amy frowned at them, looking confused, "What's in her eyes?" he questioned, taking the device.

"We are".

The Hatter inhaled sharply, spinning around to look at Amy. She stepped closer to the red head, trying to look in her eyes, but as far as she could tell, both Amy's eyes looked perfectly fine.

"What's he talking about?" Amy asked, frowning as she tried to lean away from the Time Lady, a little unnerved by just how intently she seemed to be looking at her, "I'm five," everyone looked at her and she blinked, seeming to realise just what she had said, "I mean…five," she shook her head, "Fine!" she corrected herself, "I'm _fine_ ".

"You're counting," River said slowly, eyeing her worriedly.

She glanced over to her, "Counting?"

"Yes, you're counting down," the Hatter agreed, taking a step back, and trying to give her a calming look, "You've been counting down from ten for a few minutes now".

"Why?"

"We don't know," the Doctor shook his head, looking at her face intently.

"Well, counting down to _what_?"

"We don't know," he repeated.

"We shall take her," Bob came over again, making them pause, "We shall take all of you. We shall have dominion over all time and space".

The Doctor lifted the comm. up to his mouth, flopping back onto the captain's chair, rolling his eyes, "Get a life, Bob," he resorted, "Oops, sorry again," he added mockingly, "There's power on this ship, but nowhere near that much".

"With respect, sir, there's more power on this ship then you yet understand".

"Is it just me, or is his manners a little unsettling?" the Hatter remarked, casting the comm. device a look, trying to cover up just how nervous she actually was by his cryptic answer.

A loud, horrible screeching sound sounded throughout the room, making them all jump and look up at the ceiling.

"What's that?" River gasped, looking around, "Dead God, what _is_ that?"

A loud bang sounded over the screeching, "There back!" Octavian called, looking around, too.

The screeching died down and the comm. device in the Doctor's hand crackled back into life, "It's hard to put in your terms, Doctor Song," Bob came over, "But at the best I understand it, the Angels are laughing".

"Laughing?" the Time Lords frowned, exchanging looks.

"Because you haven't noticed yet, sir, ma'am. The Doctor and the Hatter in the TARDIS haven't noticed".

"Doctor, Hatter…" Octavian began.

"No!" the Doctor cut him off, standing, trying to work out what the Angels were talking about, "Wait…there's something we've…"

The Hatter slowly turned on the spot, her eyes drifting up above the middle door behind them, her eyes widening, "Oh…" she breathed and grabbed the Doctor's arm to gain his attention, "I've found it, sweetheart".

He turned around and followed her gaze up above the door, only to find the crack from Amy's wall glowing brightly, seeming almost wider than the last time they had seen it. The Time Lords ran around towards it as the Doctor grabbed one of the boxes, wheeling it across towards the crack.

"That's…" Amy looked up at the crack, her eyes widening fearfully as she eyed it. She swallowed as she slowly walked closer to the Time Lords, "That's like the crack from my bedroom wall from when I was a little girl".

"Yes," the Doctor agreed, staring up at it, grabbing the Hatter's hand.

The entire room began shaking, almost causing them to all lose their balance, seeming to be coming from the crack as the banging sounded again.

"Okay, enough!" Octavian shook his head, taking control as he looked around to his men, "We're moving out!"

"Agreed," River nodded as the cleric began heading for the forest. She looked over to the Time Lords and Amy, still staring up at the crack, "Doctor, Hatter?" she called loudly.

"Yeah, fine," the Doctor waved her off, climbing on top of the box and helping the Time Lady up, before reaching inside his blazer, pulling out his sonic.

"What are you doing?" she asked, frowning up at them.

"Be with you in a tick," the Hatter told her absentmindedly, tilting her head at the crack, not daring to try touching the wall around it as the Doctor flashed his sonic at it.

"We're not leaving without you!"

"Oh yes, you are," the Doctor said firmly, not even looking away from the crack as he scanned it, "Bishop?" he shouted.

"Miss Pond, Doctor Song, now!" Ocativan called from the edge of the forest, looking back towards them as his men began to make their way further into the forest.

River sighed, looking frustrated as she grabbed Amy's arm, pulling her after the clerics, "Doctor, Hatter!" Amy struggled to break free of River's hold, but it was no use as she was dragged into the forest after the others, "Come on!"

"So, what are you?" the Doctor muttered aloud, ignoring Amy's shouts as he checked the results on his sonic, his eyes widening, "Oh, that's bad," he sighed, holding it out for the Time Lady to see, "Ah…that's extremely very not good," he pressed his ear against the wall, listening closely.

"Yes, that is very troubling," the Hatter groaned slightly, shaking her head, when she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. She whirled around and gasped, seeing that they were surrounded by Angels, reaching out towards them with clawed, stone hands, "Doctor!" she grabbed his arm, trying to keep the Angels in sight.

He spun around to see the Angels himself and swallowed hard, quickly tucking his sonic back inside his blazer. Carefully, he jumped off the box, trying to keep his eyes on the Angels as the Time Lady jumped down beside him, "Do not blink," he murmured, seeming to be trying to remind himself.

"Okay, we can do this with team work," the Time Lady said quietly, her eyes already starting to water painfully from staring at the Angels, "I'll take the left and you the right, that way can try to keep both sides covered".

"Got it," he nodded, wanting to look at her, but he forced himself to keep looking at the Angels on the right side of the room, "We'll have to get over the controls. You go first".

She quickly moved forward, trying to keep her eyes fixed on the Angels on her left as she blindly climbed over the control panel. She winced as she smacked her knee against the metal and accidently blinked. The Angels moved forward, one almost touching her arm as she swore loudly.

The Doctor inhaled sharply from behind her, having head the sound of stone grinding against stone, "Hatter, please tell me you didn't blink?" he asked fearfully, desperately wishing he could turn his head.

"It's alright," she assured him quickly, carefully pulling her legs over the control panel, coming to land on the other side. She winced as the spot she had hit throbbed as she put weight on that leg, "But I'll have a nasty bruise on my knee later. Stupid pain, why does it have to make you blink? Anyway," she shook her head, "You next".

Surprisingly, with this regenerations lanky limbs, the Doctor managed to climb over the control panel without any trouble, keeping his eyes fixed on his sides Angels as he landed beside the Time Lady, and blindly reached for her hand, "That wasn't so hard," he remarked.

"Sweetheart, if I could give you a dark look right now, I would have".

They began walking backwards towards the forest, trying to keep their eyes on the Angels, when they tried to turn and make a break for it…only for the Doctor to yelp loudly as he was grabbed from behind by his blazer's collar and the Hatter, who gave a little shriek of surprise that she was very glad no one else heard, as the collar of her trench coat was grabbed, too.

They both froze, waiting for something, anything to help, but the Angels made no move.

"Ah…what's going on?" the Hatter frowned slowly, confused by why the Angels hadn't done anything, glancing at the Doctor beside her, "Not that I really want to die or be sent back in time without the TARDIS, but why haven't they killed us?"

They looked back behind them, having to crane their necks awkwardly to see all the Angels stood in a circle behind them, there arms raised above their heads as they looked at the crack.

"Good, and not so good," the Doctor remarked quietly, eyeing the Angels for a moment before glancing at the Hatter, exchanging a look, "Oh, this isn't even a little bit good. I mean, is that it?" he glanced back to the Angels, "Is that the power that brought you here?"

"That's pure Time Energy," the Time Lady added, shaking her head as she carefully slipped her arms out of her coat, trying not to think about the how many bags of jelly babies she was going to have to leave behind. At least she had her backup bags in her waistcoat and trouser pockets, and, not that the Doctor needed to know, one small bag in her right boot, "You guys can't get dinner off that".

"That's not power, that's the fire at the end of the Universe," he nodded along with her, "And I'll tell you something else…" there was a loud rumbling sound and the room shock, giving the Time Lords the perfect chance to pull themselves free, "Never let us talk!" he called back to them.

The ran into the forest, leaving there coats behind, their hands interlocked as they ran deeper into the forest, jumping over tree roots as they went, trying to find the rest of the group. It didn't take them long before they managed to find them, hearing River's voice drifting through the trees as they neared.

"…we wait for the Doctor and the Hatter," she was saying firmly to someone.

"Our mission is to make this wreckage safe and neutralise the Angels," Octavian replied, sounding annoyed, "Until that is archived…"

The Time Lords reached the edge of a small clearing and stepped up onto a log, looking down the small slope to where Amy, much to their concern, was curled up on her side on a rock in the middle of clearing as River examined her, while Octavian stood close by. The rest of his men stood around the place, on guard, but apparently not one of them had spotted the Time Lords arrival.

"Father Octavian," River's voice turned harder and even more determined as she continued to connect Amy to what looked like a blood pressure cuff, "When the Doctor and the Hatter are in the room, your one and only mission is to keep them alive long enough to get everyone else home. And trust me, it's not easy…" she seemed to sigh before shaking her head, looking over to Octavian as the Time Lords exchanged a look, "Now, if they're dead back there, I'll never forgive myself. And if they're alive, I'll never forgive them. And…Doctor, Hatter, you're standing right behind me, aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor grinned.

"Hello!" the Hatter gave her a cheerful wave and wink.

River looked over to them, a small smile playing across her face as she tried to glare at them, "I hate you!"

"You don't," the Doctor shook his head, pointing at her before clapping his hands together, "Bishop, the Angels are in the forest," he informed him as he and the Time Lady made their way down the slope, the Hatter moving to Amy's side at once.

Octavian nodded and looked around to his clerics, "We need visual contact on every line of approach".

"How did you get past them?" River asked as the Time Lords crouched beside Amy, staring at them in amazement as the Hatter grabbed the small med-scanner connected to the red head, sighing heavily as she read the results.

"We found a crack in the wall and told them it was the end of the Universe," the Doctor answered simply.

"What was it?" Amy questioned, her voice sounding tearful.

The Hatter reached forward and soothingly brushed Amy's hair behind her ear, glancing up at River, "Exactly what we told them, the end of the Universe," she said quietly, keeping her voice calm and gentle, "Doctor, you're going to want to see this," she held out the med-scanner towards him with her free hand.

He took the device, "Let's have a look, then," he held up the device, reading the results.

"So…what's wrong with me?" Amy swallowed fearfully.

"Nothing," River quickly tried soothing her, "You're fine…"

"Everything," the Doctor cut across her, staring at the results as the Hatter closed her eyes tightly at his bluntness, "You're dying".

"Doctor!"

The Hatter smacked the back of his head, rolling her eyes as he yelped and quickly began rubbing the spot, his eyes wide as he looked at her, "What was that for?" he exclaimed, wincing, "Lying to her won't make her any better!"

"Oh, honestly," the Time Lady sighed, shaking her head at him, "For someone who calls himself 'the Doctor,' you truly do have a terrible bedside manner. Telling someone they are dying certainly doesn't make anything better! You have to be gentle and patient, you idiot," she nudged his side sharply, just to try and get the message across.

He blinked slightly, looking a little ashamed of himself, "Right…sorry," he reached across and pattered Amy's shoulder apologetically, "Okay, Amy!" he forced himself to get back on the task at hand and passed the med-scanner to River as he looked down to Amy, "Amy, Amy. What's the matter with Amelia?"

"The Angels said that something was in her eye," the Hatter reminded him, looking thoughtful as she tilted her head.

"What does that mean?" he nodded, talking quickly, "Does it mean anything?"

"Doctor…" Amy began, her voice soft.

"Busy".

"Scared!"

"Course you're scared, you're dying," he waved her off, "Shut up!"

River glanced at the Time Lady, who shot the Doctor a scolding look, but she was busy trying to think herself as she fiddled with her bowtie to do anything more. She reached across and pattered Amy's back soothingly, "Okay, let them think," she told her quietly.

"What happened?" the Doctor stood and began pacing, "She stared at the Angel, she looked into the eyes of an Angel for too long…"

"Sir!" one of the clerics on guard called, "Angel incoming!"

"And here!" a second cleric added.

"Keep visual contact," Octavian ordered them, "Do not let it move".

"We need to think…" the Hatter muttered, jumping to her feet, slowly turning around in a circle as she desperately tried to think, "Amy watched as the Angel climbed out of the screen, she stared into its eyes, and…"

"'The image of an Angel is an Angel,'" Amy quoted tearfully.

"Yes, exactly!" she whirled around, pointing to Amy, her mind racing.

"A living mental image in a living human mind," the Doctor nodded quickly, stepping back over towards Amy and crouching again.

"And we stare at the Angels to stop them from moving, we don't even blink," the Hatter breathed, her eyes widening, horrified, "That's what the Angels want!" she looked at the Doctor, "As long as our eyes are open, the Angels can climb inside!"

"There's an Angel in her mind!" the Time Lords cried in unison, clapping their hands over there mouths when they realised they had just said that out loud. The Hatter winced and stepped over to Amy, kneeling down beside her.

"Three," Amy gasped, "It's coming, I can feel it," she swallowed thickly, "I'm going to die!"

The Doctor stood, "Please, shut up, we're thinking," he told her calmly, reaching inside his pocket and withdraw in the comm. device as he looked at the Hatter, "Now, counting, what's that about?" he lifted the device up to his mouth, "Bob, why are they making her count?" he asked.

"To make her afraid, sir," Bob replied, and the Hatter closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep her temper under control.

"Okay, but why?" he frowned, "What for?"

"For fun, sir".

He froze and glared down the device angrily, before chucking it across the clearing. The Hatter really couldn't blame him, she would have aimed for one of the approaching Angels.

"Doctor, what's happening to me?" Amy questioned fearfully, "Hatter, explain".

The Hatter reached across to Amy and tried to comfort her by rubbing her back, "Within your head, inside the vision centres of your brain, there's an Angel," she explained to her, keeping her voice calm and steady, "Think of it as a screen within your mind and right now, the Angel is climbing out of it, and…" she trailed off, swallowing.

The Doctor stepped back over to them, taking the Hatter's hand, "And it's coming to shut you off," he finished.

"Then what do I do?"

He stood and began pacing once more, "If it was a real screen, what would we do?" he muttered aloud, "We'd pull the plug. But we can't just knock her out, the Angel would just take over".

"Then what?" River looked up from the med-scanner, glancing at the Time Lady, "Quickly!"

The Hatter looked up from Amy, "We have to find a way to shut down the vision centres of her brain," she answered, talking fast, "Basically, find a way to pull the plug on the screen within Amy's brain and starve the Angel".

River looked down to the scanner in her hand worriedly, "She's got seconds".

"Pulling the plug…" the Time Lady breathed, when her eyes winded in realisation. Her head snapped down to Amy, "Amelia, you need to close your eyes!"

"Oh!" the Doctor exclaimed, clapping his hands and pointing at the Hatter.

"No," Amy shook her head, trying to move away from the Time Lady, "No, I don't want to".

"Good!" the Doctor hurried back over to them, kneeling beside the Hatter, "Because that's not you, that's the Angel inside you. It's afraid. Do it! Close your eyes".

"It's okay," the Hatter assured her gently, "I promise".

Amy hesitated, still looking fearful before she closed her eyes. The scanner beeped almost at once and her results returned to normal, back in the green zone.

"She's normalising," River breathed, looking down at the results, "Oh, you did it," she smiled broadly, extremely relieved, her eyes drifting up to the Time Lady, "You did it!"

The Hatter laughed and shook her head, "Amy's the one who did it," she nodded down to the girl, giving her a proud smile despite knowing she couldn't see it.

"Both of you are brilliant," the Doctor grinned, quickly kissing the Hatter's cheek and patting Amy's shoulder.

"Sir?" one of the clerics called urgently, "Two more incoming!"

"Three more over here," another cleric announced.

The Hatter helped Amy to sit up, the red heads eyes still closed as River checked the scanner again, "Still weak," she remarked, undoing the cuff from around Amy's arm and tucked it away in her bag, "Dangerous to move her".

"So, can I open my eyes now?" Amy asked hopefully, looking around blindly.

The Doctor exchanged a grim look with the Hatter, sighing heavily as he turned back to Amy, "Amy, listen to me," he said firmly, "If you open your eyes now for more than a second, you will die," Amy paled and the Time Lady moved to sit on the rock beside her, wrapping her arm around the girl, "The Angel is still inside you," he continued, "We haven't stopped it, we've just…sort of…paused it".

"I'm sorry, Amy," the Hatter squeezed her lightly against her side, seeing how distressed the girl was growing again, feeling her hearts go out to her, "You've run out of time, which means you _must_ keep your eyes closed until we can figure out a way to fix this, and we will. I promise".

"Doctor, Hatter, we're too exposed here," Octavian cut in from behind them, watching the trees around them, "We have to move on".

The Doctor stood, casting his eyes around the clearing, "We're too exposed everywhere," he shook his head.

The Time Lady looked over to Octavian, frowning, "Also, Amy can't move," she nodded to the girl beside her, "Not to mention she's afraid and upset".

"And anyway, that's not the plan," the Doctor added.

"There's a plan?" River raised her eyebrows over to him, glancing at the Time Lady.

The Hatter smiled faintly, looking amused, "Not yet".

"I haven't finished talking," he agreed, giving the Hatter a wink before forcing himself to grow serious, looking around to the clerics, "Right!" he clapped his hands, "Father, you and your Clerics, you're going to stay here, look after Amy," he instructed them, his tone turning sharper, "If anything happens to her, I'll hold every single one of your responsible, _twice_ ".

"Actually, make that four times over," the Time Lady spoke up, casting the clerics around them a very serious look to make sure they understood. Her first instinct was to stay with Amy and keep an eye on her, try to comfort her, but she also knew that the Doctor would have a fit if she even tried to suggest that she stayed behind, which would only make trying to stop the Angels and save Amy all the more harder. As much as she would have loved to stay behind with Amy, it simply wasn't logical for her to do so, not when the Doctor would need her help.

"And trust me, she's scary when she's angry," the Doctor nodded quickly, casting the Time Lady a sideways look as she simply gave him an innocent smile. He shivered and forced himself back on task, "River, you, the Hatter, and I, we're going to find the Primary Flight Deck, which is…" he licked the tip of his finger and held it up, testing the air for a moment, "A quarter of a mile straight ahead".

The Hatter gave him an amused look, "You do relies I could simply could have smelt the air and told you that, right?"

"Where's the fun in that, dear?" he flashed her a grin, shrugging as he turned back to the others, "Anyway, from there we're going to stabilise the wreckage, stop the Angels, and cure Amy".

"How?" River questioned curiously.

"We'll do a thing".

"What thing?"

"I don't know," he shook his head as the Hatter laughed, "It's a thing in progress. Respect the thing," he pointed at her before clapping his hands, looking around the group, "Moving out!"

Octavian stepped over to them, looking back and forth between the Time Lords as the Hatter continued trying to comfort Amy, "I'm coming with you two," he told them, his voice determined as the Doctor eyed him slightly, "My Clerics'll look after Miss Pond. These are my best men," he assured them, "They'd lay down their lives in her protection".

"We don't need you," the Doctor replied, shaking his head.

"I don't care. Where Doctor Song goes, I do".

The Hatter looked over towards them, raising her eyebrows at Octavian, "How…interesting," she remarked thoughtfully, casting a quick look at River, who had her arms crossed, "Is there…something going on between you two?" she asked carefully, already knowing that that wasn't the case.

"Yes…" the Doctor nodded slowly, looking in-between Octavian and River, catching on to what the Time Lady was doing, "You two engaged or something?"

Octavian glanced at River, who seemed to nod tensely before looking back to the Time Lords, "Yes, in a manner of speaking," he answered. The Time Lords exchanged a look, "Marco, you're in charge till I get back," he ordered one of his men.

"Sir!" Marco called back as River and Octavian turned, heading off into the forest.

The Doctor stared after them for a moment, his eyes narrowed thoughtful as he glanced at the Hatter, exchanging a long look. There was certainly something going on between Octavian and River, but whatever it was, romance had nothing to do with it.

"Doctor?" Amy looked around blindly, and the Doctor moved back over towards her and the Hatter, "Please, can't I come with you?"

"You'd slow us down, Miss Pond!" Octavian said loudly through the trees.

She sighed heavily, "I don't want to sound selfish, but you'd really speed me up".

"Amy, it will be okay here," the Hatter tried to console her, rubbing her back, "It's too dangerous to take you with us just now, I'm sorry".

The Doctor crouched in front of Amy, patting her shoulder, "The Hatter's right, we can't protect you on the move," he told her quietly, "We'll be back for you soon as we can, I promise".

Amy looked down, "You always say that…" she muttered.

"And we have always come back for you," the Time Lady cut across her gently, giving her a small smile, despite knowing she couldn't see it, "It might take us a little while, but we will come back," she nudged her side lightly, "I always keep my promises, remember?"

The Doctor straightened, looking around at the clerics, "Good luck, everyone," he called to them as the Hatter reluctantly withdrew her arm from around Amy, getting to her feet, "Behave," he pointed to Amy, "Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later!" he pattered the top of Amy's head, grabbing the Hatter's hand as they began heading after River and Octavian, "River, we're going to need your computer…!"

The Hatter squeezed Amy's shoulder as they passed her, "Everything will be okay, Amy," she tried to offer her some last minute comfort, "See you soon".

And with that, the Time Lords hurried after River and Octavian, quickly catching up with them a short distance away. River handed them her hand held computer and they paused, quickly typing something into it before heading off again into the forest.

They walked through the forest for a while, Octavian and River going first, keeping watch for any Angels that might have gone around the clearing, just as the small computer the Doctor was holding beeped.

"What's that?" River looked back over her shoulder to the Time Lords at the noise.

The Doctor paused briefly and checked the device, flashing his sonic at it, "Ah…readings from a crack in the wall," he replied, holding the device out for the Time Lady to see.

"How can a crack in the wall be the end of the Universe?"

"We're not entirely sure yet, but we do have a theory," the Hatter began, looking over to River, "We believe that one day, there will be quite a big bang, so big that it will cause every moment throughout history, the past and the future, will crack".

"Is that possible? How?"

The Doctor gave River a look, eyeing her, "How can you be engaged, in a manner of speaking?" he questioned.

"Well…" River paused, glancing over to Octavian, smirking, "Sucker for a man in uniform".

Octavian walked back over to them, frowning at River, who quickly lost her smirk, "Doctor Song's in my personal custody," he informed them sharply, the Hatter raised an eyebrow, "I released her from the Stormcage Containment Facility four days ago and I am legally responsible for her until she's accomplished her mission and earner her pardon," the Time Lords exchanged a look, "Just so we understand each other," he turned and walked away.

"You were in Stormcage?" the Doctor smiled slightly, glancing at River before looking at the Hatter, "Still trust her, dear?"

The Hatter gave him a look and nudged his side, "She hasn't done anything to us yet, has she?" she shrugged, giving River a small smile. Of course, she certainly hadn't expected that, but regardless, until River proved otherwise, she would give her the benefit of the doubt, though, she would have to think about watching River a little bit more carefully.

The computer beeped again and the Doctor checked it, holding it up so that River and the Hatter could see the results as a line of numbers flickered across the bottom of the screen.

"What?" River questioned quickly, seeming eager to change the subject as she looked at the small screen on the device, "What is that?"

"The date," the Doctor told her, his eyes meeting the Hatter's, "The date of the explosion, where the crack begins".

"And for those of us who can't read the base code of the Universe…?"

The numbers stopped flickering to read, 26/06/2010.

"Amy's time," the Hatter breathed, staring at the date with wide eyes.

 _ **I apologise for the lateness of this chapter, I got even more distracted then I first thought. Ooh, Doctor Who is coming back and Jenna's leaving, I can't wait to find out who the next companion is going to be, I kind of hope we get a male companion again.**_

 _ **Next chapter, we have that**_ _ **kiss**_ _ **, the Hatter feels invisible, and our Time Lords form a plan over a cup of cocoa. Tell me what you thought and please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **It sounds very interesting, though, sadly, I haven't read nor do I have any Doctor Who comics, so it's doubtful that I will be able to do a story about it, but you never know. Thanks for the suggestion and the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **I'll start with your last point first. I can't say much at this point, but I do plan for there to be a big moment in the 50**_ _ **th**_ _ **were the Hatter makes a stand against the Doctors, I'm afraid I can't say anything more about that. There will and have been times were they've disagreed on how to end the problem.**_

 _ **Secondly, I actually have something planned when it comes to the Hatter's dark side during 'Amy's Choice,' how she feels about that part of herself and why she tries to be so 'good' will be mentioned. I can't imagine the Dream Lord not trying to taunt her about that.**_

 _ **Thirdly, that's actually what I was going to say at first, because she does have a very strong moral code, but I do see what you mean. Regeneration does change their personalities, so you never know, I can see her becoming a bit more manipulative, depending on the situation, but at the same time I can't see her becoming so manipulative that she forgets to consider what effect it might have on others. Her compassion is one of her primary traits or just one of those traits that sticks with her throughout regeneration and to take that away, would be like turning her into a completely different person. Having said that, you never know what might happen with her as the story progresses and what impact certain things will have on her personality, even without regeneration, since we all change and develop as time goes by.**_

 _ **I'll have to keep those suggestions in mind for the future and how I can incorporate that possible darker side to her character, while also keeping her true to those main traits. Thanks for the suggestions and the review, not to mention for making me think hard :)**_

 _ **Guest (3):**_ _ **I'm glad you liked the idea of the Fourth Doctor, but I'm not sure when I'll have time to write the story. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **GuestCat (1):**_ _ **Hi, I hope you had a good holiday, and I'm glad you liked them thus far. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **GuestCat (2):**_ _ **Aww, I'm glad you liked it. Yep, the Doctor does love River in the future…it's just a different type of love from the show. I'm afraid that his hearts belong to the Hatter when it comes to a romantic love and in this story, River isn't interested in the Doctor that way, she just likes to tease him…only in a less flirty way then the Hatter does. Another evil Hatter one? I'm really going to have to start thinking about writing a story in which our Hatter meets a dark version of herself in a different Universe. Thanks for the review :)**_


	10. Chapter 10 Flesh and Stone, Part 2

_**Flesh and Stone, Part 2**_

It didn't take them long until they finally reached the Primary Flight Deck. It looked similar to the first Flight Deck from the outside, only there seemed to be small hatch in the middle of the hull. River stood guard, her gun ready as she stood on a root to gain extra height, scanning the forest with her eyes, while Octavian examined the outer hull of the Flight Deck, trying to find a way inside. The Doctor and the Hatter stood off to the side together, their heads bent as they fiddled with River's computer, looking up every now and again as the lights around them flickered.

"It doesn't open it from here," Octavian muttered as he continued trying to find a way inside, "But it's the Primary Flight Deck," he stepped closer to the hatch, kneeling beside it, "This has got to be a service hatch or something".

"Hurry up and open it," River called over her shoulder to him, "Time's running out".

"What?" the Doctor's head snapped around to look at her, startled, "What did you say?" he frowned, "'Time's running out,' is that what you said?"

"Yeah," she nodded, sighing slightly, "I just meant…"

"No, but what if that's possible?" the Hatter remarked quickly, her mind racing as her eyes meet the Doctor's, "What if that could happen?"

"What if what could?"

"Time," the Doctor said slowly, catching on, "What if time could run out?"

"Got it!" Octavian announced, managing to open the hatch, finding it leading into a small tunnel.

"Cracks," he began, shifting on the spot, unable to stay still as his mind raced, "Cracks in time, time running out…"

"But could that _really_ happen?" the Hatter frowned thoughtfully, shaking her head, feeling a little silly for even entertaining the idea. She had always been taught that time was a constant, that as long as the Universe had been around, so had time, and yet...what if it was possible for time to run out, after all? Time was such a complex thing, not even the Time Lords could have claimed to have known everything about it, which meant that just because no one had considered it before, that didn't make it impossible. How many other scientific discovery had been treated in a similar way and yet been proven to be true in the past?

The Doctor turned and pointed towards her, "But how is a duck pond a duck pond if there aren't any ducks?" he countered. She inclined her head in agreement, having to admit that he did have a very good point there, "And she didn't recognises the Daleks!" he reminded her.

"Yes, those are very good points," she agreed, nodding slowly, "Right, so time can shift, we know that".

"Time can change," he added as River glanced at them, seeming to struggle just to follow their conversation, "Time can be _rewritten_ …ah! Oh!" he gasped, whirling around to face the Hatter, grabbing her shoulders as she grabbed his, looking at each other with wide eyes.

Octavian cast them a quick look before shaking his head, "Doctor Song, get through, now," he gestured to River, leaning back from the opened hatch to give her room. River hurried over to the hatch and he helped her climb through, glancing over to the Time Lords, "Doctor, Hatter?" but they hardly seemed to hear him, "Sir? Ma'am?"

The Doctor mimed turning something clockwise in the air before turning it anticlockwise before him, his head snapped back to the Hatter, "Time can be unwritten…" he breathed, the corning of his mouth twitching in amazement.

"This is…" the Hatter trailed off, breaking into a stunned laugh, shaking her head, "I mean, this…it explains so much!" she exclaimed, almost jumping on the spot in her excitement, "This has been happening around us for ages and we haven't even noticed!"

Octavian sighed and looked over to them, "We have to _move_ ," he tried to tell them.

"The Cyberking!" the Doctor gasped, remembering the adventure, "A giant Cyberman walks over all of Victorian London and no one remembers!"

"We have to move it!" he stepped over to them, eyeing the trees around them warily, "The Angels could be here any second…" he reached out to touch the Doctor's shoulder.

He shrugged off his hand, "Never mind the Angels, there's worse here than Angels!" he shook his head.

Suddenly, the lights went out and Octavian inhaled shakily, making the Time Lords whirl around, just as the lights came back on to find an Angel standing behind Octavian, it's arm around his neck.

Octavian clutched at the arm around his neck, trying to pull it away, "I beg to differ, sir," he breathed quietly.

The Doctor flashed his sonic at the Angel as the Hatter carefully stepped closer towards Octavian, her eyes flickering back and forth between the two, horrified, "Let him go," he ordered.

"Well, it can't let me let me go, sir, can it? Not while you're looking at it".

"I'm sorry, Bishop, but it will _kill_ you if we look away," the Hatter reminded him gently, looking at him sadly.

"It's going to kill me anyway," he replied, "Think it through. There's no way out of this, you have to leave me".

"Can't you wiggle out?" the Doctor asked, sounding hopeful.

He tried to move before shaking his head, "No, it's too tight. You have to leave me. There's nothing you can do," he insisted, sighing slightly, seeing how reluctant they both where to move, "Sir, ma'am, there's _nothing_ you can do".

"We can't just leave you," the Hatter shook her head stubbornly, swallowing, "If we leave you here…you'll die. We can't just let that happen!"

"Yes," he nodded, "Yes, I'm dead. And before you go…"

"We're not going!" they cut across him quickly.

"Listen to me, it's important! You can't trust her".

"Trust who?" the Doctor frowned, glancing at the Hatter, both already having a pretty good idea.

"River Song," he clarified, his voice still soft as he looked back and forth between them, clearly wanting them to understand just how important it was, "You think you know her, but you don't. You don't understand who or what she is".

"Than just tell us," the Hatter told him, keeping her voice calm despite her hearts pounding in her chest. She doubted that he would tell them anything specifically, but whatever it was that he knew, it was important enough that he would use his last few minutes alive to try and warn them, and that said a great deal about just who or what they might be dealing with when it came to River Song.

"I've told you more than I should. Now please, you have to go. It's your duty to your friends".

The Doctor eyed him, "Just tell us why she was in Stormcage?"

Octavian swallowed, his face falling, "She killed people, good people. Heroes too many".

The Time Lords tensed, both swallowing thickly, and the Hatter couldn't help but wonder if trusting River right from the beginning had been the best idea after all.

"Who?" the Doctor asked quietly, dreading the answer.

"You don't want to know, sir," Octavian gave them a pointed look, shaking his head as much as he could, "You _really_ don't".

"Please, who did she kill?" the Hatter repeated, forcing her voice to remain steady.

"Sir, ma'am, the Angels are coming," he avoided the questioned, looking over their shoulders towards the trees, his voice turning firm, "You have to leave me!"

The Doctor looked at him for a long moment, really not wanting to leave him behind, "You'll die," he reminded him.

"I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that, I thank God, and bless the path that take you both to safety".

"I'm so sorry, Bishop," the Hatter said sadly, giving him a weak smile, "I wish things had been different, that we had got a chance to know you better".

"I think, ma'am, you know me at my best".

The Doctor took a deep breath, "Ready?"

Octavian closed his eyes, "Content".

"Goodbye, Bishop," the Hatter sighed heavily, pulling off her hat in preparation, knowing that she wouldn't be able to wear it while moving through the hatch.

The Doctor nodded to him and grabbed the Time Lady's hand, turning and making a dash for the hatch. The blonde dived through first, quickly followed by the Doctor as a sickening crunching sound came from behind them. The moment they were through, he closed the hatch behind him and flashed his sonic at it.

"There's a teleport," River announced, looking up from where she was fiddling with a piece of equipment across the other side of the Primary Flight Deck, kneeling on the floor, "If I can get it to work, we can beam the others here…"

"Brilliant idea," the Hatter remarked, climbing back onto her feet as she wiped the cuff of her shirt over her eyes, trying to remove any traces of tears. She took a deep, steady breath and pulled her hat back on as she hurried around the rest of the controls to join River.

The other woman flashed her a smirk, "I learnt from the best, honeykins," she gave her a wink but it was quickly replaced with a frown when she noticed that the Time Lady smiled weakly in return. She looked over to the hatch and her frown deepened, "Where's Octavian?"

"Octavian's dead," the Doctor informed her bluntly, making her look at him sharply, her eyes widening. He marched over towards them, running his eyes over the damaged controls, "So is that teleport. You're wasting your time".

"I wouldn't say that so quickly, Doctor," the Time Lady gave him a look before directing her attention back to the teleport controls, inwardly wincing at the mess of cables and wiring. She had to admit, it wasn't looking good, but with River's help, they ought to have a good chance of fixing it and getting it up and running again. Besides, she had an idea of just what they might be able to use the teleport for, "I always was a dab hand at fixing the near impossible," she continued, the corner of her mouth twitching, "And teleports have always been a bit of a speciality of mine. I built the one that sent us to the Capital when we were trapped in the Death Zone, remember?"

"Vividly," he sighed, running a hand down his face, "It's hard to forget holding you in my arms while you were seconds away from regenerating, dear".

"That almost sounds romantic…well, aside from the regenerating part. I vaguely recall basically calling Borusa, Flavia, and the Castellan all idiots before fainting, too, which is a little embarrassing".

He smiled faintly, almost laughing as he recalled that, but he quickly forced himself to focus. He turned to River, who was simply watching them with an amused expression, "I'm going to need your communicator," he reached across and grabbed River's comm. device, flashing his sonic across it.

The comm. crackled with static for a moment as he stepped over to a second control panel, "Hello?" Amy's voice came over a moment later, sounding panicked, making them all sigh relief to know that she was still alive, "Hello? Please say you're there. Hello? Hello?"

"Amy?" the Doctor called back over it, breaking into a smile, "Amy, is that you?"

"Doctor?" she breathed.

"Where are you?" he asked urgently as the Time Lady knelt on the floor and disappeared under one of the controls, fiddling with the wires, "Are the Clerics with you?"

"They've gone. There was a light and…they walked into the light, Doctor, they didn't even remember each other".

He sighed heavily as the Hatter pocked her head around the edge of the controls, shaking her head sadly, "No, they wouldn't," he nodded.

River stepped around the controls, looking curious, "What is that light?"

"Time energy," the Hatter told her grimly, "It's spilling out of the crack and if you get caught in that…" she trailed off, wincing.

"Amy, I'm sorry," the Doctor turned back to the device in his hand, "We made a mistake. We should never have left you there".

"Well, what do I do now?" Amy questioned.

"You come to us," he told her, flickering a couple of switches on the control before him, "The Primary Flight Deck, the other end of the forest".

"I can't see! I can't open my eyes".

He lifted the device away from his mouth and flashed his sonic at it, "Turn on the spot," he said to her.

"Sorry, what?"

"Just do it!" he cut across her quickly, growing frustrated with her, "Turn on the spot. When the communicator sounds like my screwdriver, that means you're facing the right way. Follow the sound," he paused, listening as a whirring sound came from the other end, growing faster before it sounded like his sonic, "You have to start _moving_ now," he called to her over the sound, "There's Time Energy spilling out of that crack, and you _have_ to stay ahead of it".

"But the Angels, they're everywhere," Amy argued, sounding fearful. The Hatter winced from where she was sitting on the floor, trying to untangle a cable, wishing that she could try to comfort the girl.

"I'm sorry, I really am," he nodded quickly, "But the Angels can only kill you".

"What does the Time Energy do?"

"Just keep moving!"

"Tell me!" she demanded.

The Hatter quickly pulled herself back onto her feet, casting the Doctor a concerned look, seeing how upset he was getting, "Sweetheart, let me explain it to her," she walked over to him and took his free hand, giving it a tight squeeze as he took a deep breath, closing his eyes at the touch, "You're getting worked up, which isn't going to help anyone right now. Just take a step back and calm down a bit, okay?" she fixed him with a look that clearly said not to bother arguing with her.

He opened his mouth before seeming to think better of it, and handed the comm. over to her as River stepped around the teleport control, picking up where the Time Lady left off. He had to admit that the stress and worry was beginning to affect him more then he would have liked and that he could feel it starting to bubble over. The Hatter was right, he did need to step back before he ended up saying something he regrated.

"Right, then," the Hatter lifted the device up to her mouth, "Hello, Amy".

"Hatter?" Amy asked, sounding surprised, "What happened to the Doctor?"

"Oh, he's right here, you just focus on walking," she assured her, glancing at the Doctor beside her, "Now, if the Time Energy manages to catch up to you, then you will have never been born," she explained to her, keeping her voice calm in an attempt to stop Amy from panicking even more, though, she doubted if that would work, "Basically, it will erase every moment of your entire life. You will never have lived at all".

She handed the device back to the Doctor, who took it and brought it up to his mouth, "Now, keep your eyes shut and keep _moving_ ," he ordered her sternly.

"It's never going to work," River remarked from across the room, shaking her head as she continued working on the teleport.

"What else have you got?" the Doctor suddenly shouted, turning on her as she flinched, "River, tell me!"

"That's enough!" the Hatter said loudly, stepping around in front of him, giving him a sharp look, "Believe me, I get it, Doctor," she began, lowering her voice back to its normal level, "I'm scared for Amy and worried about her, too, but shouting won't fix this. You need to calm down and focus, that's what Amy needs us to do right now so that we can save her, which we _will_. Now," she took a deep breath, softening her gaze as she reached up and placed a hand on his cheek, "Sweetheart, you focus on keeping Amy moving, River and I only need a bit more time before we can get her to safety, but until then, you need to stay calm," she sighed heavily, "I hate seeing you get so upset".

He winced, looking ashamed of the way he had shouted at River, "You're right," he admitted, meeting the Time Lady's eyes, "I…shouldn't have shouted. Sorry, River," he looked over to her.

River opened her mouth, when a loud clanging sound came from overhead, startling them. She gasped, "What's that?" she asked, alarmed.

The Hatter tilted her head up at the ceiling, "That's the Angels trying to run from the crack," she explained to River, "They came here to feed on the Time Energy, but now that energy is going to feed on them".

The Doctor grabbed his sonic and flashed it at the comm., "Amy, listen to me," he called over it as the Time Lady stepped back over to help River with the teleport, "I'm sending a bit of software to your communicator. It's a proximity detector. It'll beep if there's something in your way. You just manoeuvre till the beeping stops. Because, Amy…" he lowered his sonic, "…this is important. The forest is full of Angels," he closed his eyes tightly, sighing, "You're going to have to walk like you can see them".

"Well, what do you mean?" Amy asked, sounding as if she was frowning.

He shook his head, "Look, just keep moving".

"That Time Energy," River said slowly, a little wary of just how the Doctor might react to the question, even now, when he seemed to have calmed down. She looked at the Hatter as she stood by the teleport controls, hitting a couple of switches, "What's it going to do?"

The Hatter paused, grimacing, "Continue to eat," she answered.

"How do we stop it?"

"Well…" her grimace grew as she looked over to her, "By feeding it, I suppose".

"Feed it what?"

"Ah, a lovely big, quite complicated space time event should keep it happy for a little while".

"Like what, for instance?"

Her hand rose to toy with her bowtie as she swallowed, glancing at the Doctor, who was listening tensely, "The Doctor and I would do," she eventually replied, her voice sounding soft, "Or just one of us would work, too".

River stared at her, horrified, when a high-pitched beeping sound came from the comm. device.

"What's that?" Amy came over, sounding worried, obviously hearing the beeping.

The Doctor took a deep breath, running a hand down his face as he lifted the device up to his mouth, "It's a warning," he informed her, keeping his voice calm, "There are Angels round you now," the Hatter looked at the device nervously, "Amy, listen to me," he continued, "This is going to be hard but I know you can do it. The Angels are scared and running, and right now they're not interested in you. They'll assume you can see them and their instincts will kick in. All you've got to do is walk like you can see," he closed his eyes tightly, "Just don't open your eyes. Walk like you can see," he opened his eyes and they waited, but silence fell, "You're not moving," he sighed, "You have to do this," still, nothing, " _Now_. You have to do this!" he began hitting the controls in front of him in frustration.

"Come on, Amy," the Hatter muttered, growing even more anxious for the girl, "Come on, you can do this".

They listened closely and after a moment, the beeping grew faster before slowing, and they could hear Amy gasp loudly on the other end. The beeping slowed, speeding up after a moment before slowing once more, when there was suddenly a loud thud and what sounded like Amy yelping distantly.

"Doctor?" Amy cried out, "I can't find the communicator! I dropped it," her voice grew even more frantic, "I can't find it, Doctor! Doctor…Doctor! Doctor…!"

"Here we go!" the Time Lady called brightly, slamming her hand down on a button on the teleport control, finally managing to get it working, and in the nick of time.

A bright white light filled the room and Amy appeared as the light faded and River caught her, pulling the red head into her arms.

"Don't open your eyes!" River told her quickly, helping to steady her as Amy stumbled, "You're on the Flight Deck. The Hatter and I teleported you," she shot the Doctor a smirk, "See? The Hatter and I said we could get it working".

The Doctor grinned at her, "Ha, ha!" he laughed, pointing at her before turning to the Hatter, wrapping his arm around her waist as the Time Lady smiled cheekily at him, "Oh, I could bloody kiss you, dear," he murmured, leaning closer to her.

"And you said we were wasting our time," the Hatter mock scolded, shaking her head at him, "Perhaps you ought to have considered kisses before making that remark".

"So…I don't even get to kiss my brilliant wife just because her husbands a silly, old idiot?"

"Oi!" she lightly smacked his arm, "Be careful about calling yourself old, there's only a four month age gap between us".

He groaned, dropping his head onto her shoulder, "Nothing I say is going to make things any better here, is it?"

She laughed and lifted his head, cupping his cheek, "You are just so easy to tease, sweetheart," she commented, placing a lingering kiss on his lips before pulling away with a cheeky smirk as he tried to prolong the kiss.

He opened his eyes, trying to give her an annoyed look but his smile ruined it, "You really are a tease, dear," he muttered, shaking his head.

Before the Hatter could resort, an alarm began blearing throughout the room.

"What's that?" River asked, frowning as she looked around.

The Doctor stepped back over to the controls, looking down at the readings, "The Angels are draining the last of the ship's power," he informed them, looking up from the controls, "Which means…" he grabbed the Hatter's hand and they moved to stand in front of the doors leading out into the forest, "The shield's going to release," he finished, eyeing the doors.

The sound of air being released sounded and slowly, the shield rose, revealing all the Angels standing before them just out of reach of the blinding light of the Time Energy, one of them looked directly at the Time Lords, holding a comm.

"Ah," the Hatter narrowed her eyes at the Angel with the comm. device, not looking pleased, "So, you must be Angel Bob, yes?"

"The Time Field is coming," Bob called to them over the comm., "It will destroy our reality".

"Yeah, and look at you all, running away," the Doctor scoffed at him, "What can I do for you?"

"There is a rupture in time. The Angels calculate that if you throw you or the Hatter into it, it will close, and they will be saved".

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he nodded, "Could do, could do that. But why? You tried to emotionally manipulate my wife, remember?"

"Your friends would be saved".

"Well, there is that. Still, you tried to hurt…"

The Hatter cleared her throat, squeezing his hand, "Let's not go there again, Doctor," she said quickly, giving him a pointed look.

River stepped closer to the Time Lords, "I've travelled in time," she tried, glancing at the Angels, "I'm a complicated space-time event, too. Throw me in".

"Not a chance," the Time Lady shook her head firmly, casting her a small frown, "Besides, no offence, but compared to myself or the Doctor, these Angels would be more complicated then you, and it would take all of them to amount to either one of us".

"Exactly," the Doctor agreed with her, focusing his attention back on the Angels, "So get a grip".

"Hatter, Doctor, I can't let you do this…" River began stubbornly.

"No, seriously," he glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching, " _Get a grip_ ".

"You're not going to die here!"

"River, we mean it," the Hatter told her, flashing her a quick wink as she pulled her hat off, ready to stick the brim in her mouth as she grabbed a bar behind her on the controls. She gave her a pointed look, "Amelia, River, _get a grip_ ".

River stared at her, frowning, when her eyes caught sight of her hand clutching onto the railing behind her, "Oh, you geniuses!" she breathed, catching on as she turned and hurried over to Amy.

"Sir, ma'am," Bob called to them, gaining their attention, "The Angels need you to sacrifice yourself now".

"Thing is, _Bob_ ," the Doctor began calmly, trying hard not to smile, "The Angels are draining all the power from this ship, every last bit of it. And you know what?" he raised his eyebrows, "I think they've forgotten where they're standing. I think they've forgotten the _gravity_ of the situation. Or to put it another way, Angels…"

River grabbed Amy's hand and pulled her over to one of the controls, placing her hand on the bar attached to it, "You hold on tight and don't let go for anything," she told her firmly, keeping her voice low as she grabbed the bar beside Amy's.

"Night-night," he finished, grinning cheekily before whirling around and grabbing hold of another bar beside the Hatter's, just as the gravity failed and they were all lifted off their feet, only just saving themselves from being dragged into the crack by their grasp on the bars, but the Angels weren't as lucky as they were all thrown backwards, disappearing into the white light of the Time Energy, gone for good.

….

Eventually, once the crack had closed and disappeared, the backup power had come on, restoring the gravity. Much to Amy's disappointment, they were all forced to make their way back through the ship and the Maze, since there wasn't enough power to teleport up to the beach, but at least there returning trip was far less frightening now without the threat of the Angels hanging over them.

Amy sat on a rock a short distance from the TARDIS with a blanket that the Hatter had grabbed from the time machine wrapped around her shoulders, taking a moment to simply enjoy watching the waves of the ocean. Now that she was allowed to open her eyes, everything just seemed so beautiful, even the cloudy, grey sky that looked as if it was about to start pouring any minute looked wonderful.

"How do you feel?" the Hatter asked her from where she stood beside the Doctor, the Time Lords hands entwined.

"Ah…" Amy groaned slightly, "Bruised everywhere".

"Me too," the Doctor nodded.

The Hatter shook her head at him, looking amused. He seemed to be the only one who actually did manage to get out without a single bruise, even River had a couple, and the one on her knee still throbbed every time she put her weight on it, but she hadn't been able to check to see just how big it was without taking her boots off.

"You didn't have to climb out with your eyes shut," the red head resorted.

"You didn't either," the Time Lady replied, casting her a small smile, "The Angels all fell in the Time Field, which means that the Angel within your mind never existed in the first place," she shrugged, "It can't hurt you if it never existed".

She frowned, "Then why do I remember it at all?" she questioned, sounding confused, "Those guys on the ship didn't remember each other".

"You're a time traveller now, Amy," the Doctor reminded her, giving her a small smile, "It changes the way you see the Universe…forever," Amy slowly returned the smile, "Good, isn't it?"

"And the crack, is that gone too?"

The Hatter sighed slightly, exchanging a wary look with the Doctor, "For the time being," she eventually answered, her tone turning grim, "But the explosion that caused it is still happening," her eyes drifted off towards the ocean, watching the wave's crash gently against the cliff surrounding the beach cove, "And it's happening out there, somewhere in time and space…" she trailed off, looking back to Amy, giving her a comforting smile as she noticed the girls worried look, "It'll be okay, though, I'm sure".

"There's River," the Doctor suddenly said, nodding across the beach to where River stood with her hands cuffed a short distance away with a couple of clerics, who had stayed behind.

"We ought to say goodbye," the Time Lady remarked, glancing at Amy, "We'll be back in a tick".

They walked over to River, who looked at them as she noticed them approaching, smirking, "You, me…" she held up her cuffed hands as they beeped, "…handcuffs. Must it always end this way?"

The Hatter struggled to hold back a wince, recalling just what happened the last time they encountered River with handcuffs involved. She tried to fix a smile to her face, but she doubted it was very convincing, "So, what happens now?" she asked her curiously, "To you, I mean?"

"The prison ships in orbit," River told them, "They'll beam me up any second," she smiled faintly, "I might have done enough to earn a pardon this time. We'll see".

The Doctor eyed her carefully for a moment, "Octavian said you killed people," he said meaningfully.

Her smile faded almost at once, "Yes, I did," she agreed.

" _Good_ people," the Hatter added softly.

" _Very_ good people," she nodded, swallowing, "The best people I've ever known".

"Who?" the Doctor questioned, unable to stop himself, despite knowing that she wouldn't answer. He felt his hearts racing in his chest and he tightened his grip on the Hatter's hand, feeling fear spread through him.

"It's a long story. It can't be told, it has to be told. No sneak previews. Well…" she paused, giving them a cheeky wink, "Except for this one. You'll see me again quite soon, when the Pandorica opens".

He shook his head, exchanging a wide smile with the Time Lady, "The Pandorica, ha!" he laughed.

"That's just a fairy tale, River," the Hatter grinned, looking highly amused.

River laughed along with them, "Oh, Hatter, aren't we all?" she smirked, giving them a nod, "I'll see you two there".

The Time Lady tipped the brim of her hat to her, exchanging a quick look with the Doctor, "Well, it certainly sounds like fun," she commented, very intrigued by the idea, "I look forward to it".

"I remember it well".

Amy stepped over to them, "Bye, River," she smiled at her.

"See you, Amy," River looked at her, returning the smile, just as her cuffs beeped loudly, catching her attention, "Oh!" she looked down to them, "I think that's my ride".

"Can we trust you, River Song?" the Doctor asked her quickly, eyeing her.

"If you like," she shrugged before laughing again, "But where's the fun in that?"

And with that, River disappeared in a swirl of sand, along with the rest of the clerics.

The Doctor sighed slightly and let go of the Hatter's hand to wrap his arm around her waist, turning to watch the waves on the ocean. They simply watched for a long moment, both Time Lords thinking over everything they had learned as Amy stepped closer to them.

"What are you thinking?" Amy questioned, eyeing there thoughtful expressions.

"Time can be rewritten," the Doctor muttered quietly.

For a few more minutes they continued to watch the waves before deciding it was time to leave and heading over to the TARDIS. The Doctor slipped his key into the lock and they made their way inside, stepping up to the console as the Time Lords set to work on the controls, sending them off into the Time Vortex as Amy sat on the console chair, watching them work with a strange look on her face.

The Hatter couldn't help but note that the red heads eyes seemed to be fixed on the Doctor's back, watching every move he made like a hawk with that same expression on her face that she couldn't quite work out. She felt a small spark of concern as she lowered her eyes back down to the controls before her, reaching out to ideally flick a switch, wondering just what was going through Amy's head.

"I want to go home," Amy spoke after a long moment of silence, her eyes still only on the Doctor.

The Time Lady's eyes snapped back over to her, surprised by her sudden request but she supposed that she really ought not to have been after everything that had happened to the girl.

The Doctor's face fell, making sure to keep his back to her, "Okay," he nodded, his voice quiet.

Amy smiled slowly and stood, "No, not like that!" she shook her head, moving to stand closely by his side as the Hatter tilted her head curiously, looking around the Time Rotor, taking note that once again, the red head only had eyes for one person. She almost felt invisible, to be perfectly honest, "I just…" she continued, "I just want to show you something," the Doctor looked at her, "You're running from River. I'm running too".

….

The Doctor and the Hatter found themselves sitting on the edge of Amy's bed next to the red head, staring at the wedding gown that was hanging on the open door of her wardrobe across from them. The Time Lady had known that Amy was hiding something from them, but she hadn't quite expected that it was the fact she was getting married, though, she was almost positive she knew who the groom was.

"Well…" the Doctor remarked after a moment, eyeing the dress in surprise.

"Yeah," Amy nodded, her eyes still seeming glued to him. The blonde would have been sure she was invisible had the Doctor not taken her hand when they first sat down.

"It's a lovely dress, Amy," the Hatter sent her a smile around the Doctor.

"Thanks," the red head returned to the smile briefly, her eyes drifting back to the Doctor's face almost at once.

"Blimey!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"I know. This is the same night we left, yeah?"

The Hatter sniffed the air, "Yep," she replied, "You've only been gone for five minutes".

Amy leaned across to her bedside table and picked up a little red ring box, popping it open to show them her diamond engagement ring, "I'm getting married in the morning".

The Doctor took the box and frowned at it, "Why did you leave it here?" he asked, glancing at the Hatter, his eyes drifting down to the two rings sitting on her own finger. She only ever took her engagement and wedding ring off if she was swimming, showering, or tinkering with something that might be greasy or end up getting snagged on her rings for safety, but she always had them back on immediately after. He was the same with his own wedding ring.

"Why did I leave my engagement ring when I ran away with a strange man the night before my wedding?" she raised her eyebrows at him, her tone sounding almost flirty.

"And my wife," he added, seeming to notice that she hadn't mentioned the Hatter. The Time Lady cast Amy surprised look at her tone, "But, yeah," he shrugged, looking curious.

Amy laughed, taking the box back, "Hmm, you really are an alien, aren't you?"

"Okay," the Hatter stood suddenly, feeling a little uncomfortable by just how flirty Amy was being. She wasn't jealous or threatened at all, but it was just a little bit too much for her to sit there and listen to another woman try flirting with her husband, "Ah…I think I'm going to get cleaned up," she said quickly, ignoring the Doctor's small, concern frown as he looked at her, completely oblivious to Amy's gaze on him.

"Are you okay?" the Doctor questioned, watching her step over to the TARDIS, grabbing the door and opening it.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she smiled back to him, shrugging, "It's just the stress of today catching up with me, also, I'm covered in dust and dirt, which isn't very pleasant," she glanced at Amy, "I'm very happy for you, Amy. I would love to hear about your wedding plans later," she gave them a final smile before slipping through the TARDIS doors and out of sight.

"Right…" he nodded slowly, still looking a little unsure before shaking his head, turning back to Amy, "Anyway, who's the lucky fellow?"

"You met him," Amy informed him, placing the ring box back on her bedside table, fixing him with an intent look.

"Ah, the good looking one..." he paused, glancing at her, "…or the other one?" he mimed a long nose.

She gave him an unimpressed look, "The other one," she lightly smacked his arm.

"Well, he was good too".

"Thanks," she smiled a little embarrassedly, laughing a little, "So, do you comfort a lot of people on the night before their wedding?" she asked him, her tone turning flirty again.

He frowned, looking confused, "Why would you need comforting?"

"I nearly died. I was alone in the dark, and I nearly died. And it made me _think_ ".

"Well, yes, natural. I think sometimes. Well, lots of times…usually about the Hatter…" Amy sighed loudly, closing her eyes in exasperation. He really was making things hard by talking about his wife all the time, "She says I should be careful or else I'll end up hurting myself…"

"About what _I_ want," Amy cut across him, raising her eyebrows at him, "About _who_ I want. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah…" he began nodding before quickly shaking his head, looking confused, "No".

"About _who_ …" she gave him a pointed look, " _I want_ ".

"Oh, right, yeah…" he eyed her for a moment before frowning, shaking his head again, "No, still not getting it".

She sighed, but still remained determined, "Doctor, in a word, in one very simple word even you can understand…" she moved closer to him, almost climbing on top of him.

"No!" the Doctor yelped, trying to push her away, leaning as far away from her as he could, "You're getting married in the morning!" he managed to grab the bar at the end of the bed and climbed over it, "And I'm very happily married myself!"

Amy simply jumped off the bed, moving around towards him, "Well, the mornings a long time away…" she pushed him against the TARDIS doors and trapped him, smirking at him, "What are we going to do about that?" she pushed his bracers down his arms.

"Amy, listen to me," he quickly pulled his bracers back up, his eyes wide as he tried pushing her away, really not liking how close she was to him. What would the Hatter say? "I am nine hundred and seven years old," she tried to undo the buttons on his shirt and he pushed her hands away, "Do you understand what that means?" he managed to step away from her, turning around so that his back was facing the bed.

"It's been a while?" she followed him, trying to place her hand on the back of his neck.

He shoved her hands off him again, shaking his head, "No, only last night the Hatter and I…" he coughed, realising who he was talking, "Ah, never mind," she stepped closer to him and he leaned back, "Look, I'm nine hundred and seven, and look at me! The Hatter and I don't get older, we just change. You get older, we don't, and this…" he whirled back around to the TARDIS, trying to get away from her, waving a hand around, "Can't ever work, besides the fact that I'm married".

She laughed at him, "Oh, you are sweet, Doctor," she commented, "But I really wasn't suggesting anything quite so…" she stepped closer to him, trying to wrap her hands around his neck as he quickly pushed them off him, her voice growing lower, "…long term," she leaned towards his face, closing her eyes, about to kiss him…

"Amelia," the Doctor grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back a little rougher then he meant to, holding her at arm's length, his voice turning sharp, "I'm already married".

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "She never has to know, Doctor," she told him, trying to move closer to him, but his grip on her shoulders made it impossible, "Oh, come on. Just one night, it'll be our secret…"

"No," he cut her off, his voice taking on a dangerous edge that immediately made her close her mouth, "The Hatter is my wife and I would sooner die than _ever_ even _think_ about betraying her. She's my entire world, Amy, the reason why I wake up is because of her, and you think I would hurt her for even a second?" he shook his head, giving her a dark look.

Amy took a step back frown him, lowering her gaze to the floor, unable to meet his glare, "It was stupid," she muttered, moving around to sit on the edge of her bed, "I just…I knew it probably wouldn't work, but I needed to try".

He watched for a long moment, trying to calm down. He was furious at Amy that she would even think for one moment that he would hurt the Hatter like that, that he would ever betray their marriage, and to make matters even worse, that he would keep it from her, "And you," he began, his voice sounding cold, "You're supposed to be getting married in the morning…" something dawned on him and he blinked, the coldness in his voice fading, "In the morning," he repeated slowly.

She noticed the change and frowned, looking up, "Doctor?" she asked carefully, worried he might snap at her again.

"It's you," he breathed, his eyes drifting up to look at her, making her even more confused. Hadn't he already made it clear he wasn't interested in her? "It's all about you," he continued, "Everything! It's about _you_ ".

"What's going on?" she stared at him, growing even more nervous with how quickly his mood seemed to have shifted.

"Amy Pond," he stepped closer to her, "Mad, impossible, Amy Pond," he shook his head, "I don't know why, I have no idea, but quite possibly the single most important thing in the history of the Universe is that I get you sorted out right now," he reached across the bed and grabbed her arm.

"Would you make up your mind?" Amy huffed, yelping as he pulled her off the bed.

"Come on," he said firmly, pulling her towards the TARDIS.

"Doctor!" she called, very confused by exactly what was going on.

He pushed the TARDIS doors open and pushed her inside, glancing back across the room to the alarm clock on Amy's bedside table, just as it turned midnight, the 26th of June. He eyed it for a moment before following after the red head, shutting the doors behind him.

…

The Doctor immediately went looking for the Hatter, ignoring Amy's questions as he strolled through the console and down the hallways. He first checked their room, but she wasn't there, though, she had obviously been in there recently as there was still moisture in the air when he checked the bathroom. Next, he tried the closet kitchen, knowing her love of food, and finally, he found her.

She had her back to him as she stood at one of the benches, holding the kettle as she poured boiling water into a mug with a picture of a puppy wearing a top hat on it. Her companion, Katie, had bought it for her as a joke for their wedding, knowing that the Hatter was far more likely to enjoy a simple gift like that then a toaster or something, and she certainly had. She now had quite the collection of mugs with pictures of puppies or kittens wearing hats or bowties, much to his amusement.

"Cocoa, sweetheart?" the Hatter asked without turning to look at him, pushing a strand of damp hair out of her face. She had changed back into her usual clothing after showering, save for her boots, revealing the brightly coloured, striped socks she wore and she had left her waistcoat open, showing off her Gallifreyan pendant.

"Ooh, dangerous question, dear," he couldn't help but smile as he strolled across the room to join her, turning around to lean against the bench beside her, watching as she sat the kettle back down and picked up a spoon, stirring the contents of her cup, "You know, I once got engaged accepting a cup of cocoa…" he remarked, recalling the adventure during his First body.

"Yes, I know," the Time Lady replied, rolling her eyes slightly as she looked at him, "You tell me every time something to do with cocoa comes up. It's wearing a little thin, even for me, sweetheart…" she paused suddenly, a frown crossing her face, "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong?" he blinked, surprised.

"Something just seems a little…off about you," her eyes drifted over his shoulders, narrowing slightly, "You look tense. What happened now?" she sighed slightly, going back to stirring her cup.

"Amy's connected to the crack".

The Hatter cast him a look, not seeming to understand just how important that detail actually was, "I thought we already knew that. We found it in her bedroom wall, after all".

The Doctor ran a hand down his face, shaking his head, "No, I mean it's connected to _her_ ," he stressed and she frowned at him, still not seeming to understand, "Just then, in Amy's room, it was midnight when we left and guess what the date was?"

"I don't really see how…oh!" she gasped, her eyes widening in realisation as she made the connection, "Amy's wedding day," she said slowly and he nodded, growing excited now that she had caught on, "The 26th of June is her wedding day, which means that either the reception was the best party the Universe has ever seen or that something a lot less pleasant is going to happen".

"Our reception was pretty cool and nothing exploded," he couldn't stop himself from saying.

The blonde laughed, reaching across to pat his cheek lightly, "Well, then, that must mean whatever is going to cause the explosion wasn't Amy and Rory's wedding reception," she smiled at him.

His eyes snapped over to her, looking confused, "How did you know she's marrying Rory?" he questioned, "She could have been marrying the good looking one".

"What good looking one?"

"The…" he waved a hand around, feeling his cheeks heat up a little bit, "The one with the laptop".

"Oh, him," the Hatter tilted her head at him, raising her eyebrows, "You thought he was good looking?"

"You didn't?"

"Well, his staring, while flattering, was a little unsettling. Not to mention what he had on his laptop still haunts me. No, personally I thought Rory was better looking…for a human. Anyway, it was obviously Rory, he was mad on her when we first meet him".

The Doctor watched her as she picked up the spoon and stepped over towards the sink, knowing that he needed to tell her just what Amy had tried to do, "Speaking of Amy," he cleared his throat a little nervously. He knew that if someone had tried to do what Amy had done to him on the Hatter he would have thrown them into a black hole, "She…er…" he took a deep breath, closing his eyes, unable to think of any other way to say it, "She tried to kiss me".

A loud clatter of metal hitting against metal sounded throughout the room as the Hatter dropped the spoon in the sink, her mouth dropping open slightly as she spun back around to look at the Doctor, who cautiously opened his eyes, "She _what_?" she stared at him, her mouth snapping shut.

"And…" he inwardly winced, not quite sure what her reaction was going to be, "…tried to seduce me".

Silence filled the room as the Hatter could only stare at him, seeming unsure of just what to say, "When you say tried…" she began after a moment.

"I stopped her," he told her quickly, his voice firm. He felt a spark of anger remembering what Amy had tried to do, what she had suggested.

"I didn't doubt it for a second, sweetheart," she assured him, giving him a small smile, but it soon faded as she grew serious once more, "But when you say kissed, I assume you mean on the mouth," he nodded, "Right," she tilted her head at him, "Are you sure she was actually aiming for your mouth? I mean, it rather easy to aim for the cheek and get the corner of a person's mouth or fully on the lips if they move," she shrugged, "We've done that in the past".

"Yeah, I might have turned my head on purpose," he admitted quietly, avoiding her eyes.

The Hatter blinked at him, her cheeks colouring, "So every time…"

"Not every time," he said quickly, "Just…most of the time".

She sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose, "I really have to rethink everything now, don't I?" she muttered more to herself then to him, but he couldn't help with smile slightly. After a moment, she looked back to him, "Anyway, back to Amy".

"I'm tempted to take her home and leave her after what she did".

The Hatter's eye widened slightly at the anger she could see written across his face, "By rights, we probably should," she agreed, stepping back over to him and pulling herself up onto the bench, grabbing her cup, "We've fulfilled our promise, and by doing what she did, she betrayed our trust," she inclined her head, "She's disrespected out marriage, possibly destroyed it had you not been…well, _you_ ," she gave him a smile, leaning across to kiss his cheek, "And not only that, she also almost destroyed her own impending marriage".

He pulled himself up on the bench beside her, tangling one of his legs with hers, making her smile broaden, "I sense a 'but' coming on," he commented, glancing at her sideways.

She took a moment to sip her cocoa, swallowing the warm, sweet liquid, "You know me so well".

"You know, if you want her to leave then I will be more than happy to support you in this. I was the one she tried to kiss and believe me, I'm not happy about it".

"I know you're not, sweetheart," she leant her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "But I do feel partial responsible. I saw the signs, though, I never expected she would ever do anything," she frowned slightly before sighing, "Even still, trust can be rebuilt, hurt and betrayal are feelings that can fade. We're both old enough to know that and before this happened, we worked well together, which is why…" she took a deep breath, lifting her head to meet his eyes, "I think we should give her _one_ more chance, _just_ the one, and this time I have an idea in mind of just what will prevent anything like this happening again".

"She tried to seduce and kiss me, and you still want her to travel with us?" the Doctor couldn't help but stare at her, shocked.

She gave him a small, wary smile, "Oh, don't think I'm not angry and hurt by what Amy did," she told him, her tone turning sharp, "I trusted Amy and she betrayed that trust, something that I have never found easy to forgive, but as I said, trust can be rebuilt and hurt feelings fade, and with this curious crack with its connection with Amy, we are going to have to find a way to move past this, aren't we?"

"That doesn't mean she has to travel with us…"

"Of course it does," she cut him off quickly, giving him a look, "Besides, as I said, we can move passed this, and if my idea actually works, then we should never need worry about Amy trying to do anything like she did tonight".

He eyed her curiously, "And what is this idea of yours?"

"Simple. We ask Rory to travel with us, which he will since Amy's travelling with us. We take them somewhere nice and romantic, let them reconnect with each other. It's a win-win situation. I like Rory, he kind of reminds me of my old companions, Rory and Amy get each other, plus time and space, and we need not worry about this happening again".

"That's to say that Amy loves Rory, I'm a little unsure after what she tried".

"She does," the Hatter assured him, smiling broadly as he gave her a skeptical look, "She _does_ ," she repeated confidently, "If Rory had been here, this wouldn't have happened. She loves him, I don't doubt that, she just needs to relies just how much she loves him. When you get used to something, you end up taking it for granted, and that's what happened with Amy. To her, Rory is boring village life, while you are space and time, going on mad adventures, now we just have to show her that Rory can be as much a part of those adventures as she can be".

The Doctor's mouth twitched, struggling to hold back a laugh, "We're playing matchmaker to an already matched couple?"

She seemed to consider him for a moment, "I suppose you could say that, yeah," she nodded, breaking into a smile as he laughed, shaking his head at her, "You could also say that we're rematching them with each other, too, but that makes them sound like missing socks".

"Aren't we all?" he grinned, dropping a kiss on top of her head.

"Doctor, did you just liken us to socks?"

"Ah, nice and clean, brightly coloured socks with pictures of hats and bowties on them".

They meet each other's eyes and burst out laughing.

 _ **Ooh, I've been waiting to write that kiss scene for ages. I was going to write a scene at the end with the Hatter and Amy talking, but I figured that it was a good time to end this chapter, so I'll probably end up turning it into a one-shot.**_

 _ **Next chapter, the Hatter has a naive moment, Amy's feeling guilty, and the Doctor remembers the worst bet he ever made. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **Ah, so like the Valeyard or the Dream Lord sort of thing? I've actually considered doing a Hatter version of the Dream Lord…or rather a Dream Lady as a spin-off story. Either way, I'll keep it in mind. Thanks for the suggestion and the review :)**_


	11. Chapter 11The Vampires of Venice, Part 1

_**The Vampires of Venice, Part 1**_

Rory was grinning broadly as he stood by the bar at his stag party, all of his friends standing around him, holding drinks, cheering as a large cake was wheeled out into the middle of the room.

"Out!" they all shouted excitedly as music began playing, "Out! Out…!"

Suddenly, a blonde woman with a hat on burst out of the top of the cake, facing the wrong way. Everyone fell silent, staring at the woman in confusion, or more importantly at the fact that she was fully dressed in one of the most bizarre colour combinations of rainbows and military green that any of them, save for Rory, had seen.

"I thought she was supposed to be a brunet?" one of the men muttered, leaning towards the man beside him.

The woman finally seemed to realise that she was facing the wrong way and turned around, her eyes lighting up in delight as she caught sight of Rory, who was looking at her with wide eyes, "Oh, wonderful!" she smiled broadly at him, giving him a little wave, "Nice shirt," she added, almost as an afterthought as she nodded to the red shirt they were all wearing with a picture of Amy and Rory, surrounded by a love heart splashed across the front.

"Hatter!" the door leading into the kitchen burst open and the Doctor ran in, moving to stand in front of the cake, casting the stunned men a very serious glare, "Oi, you lot, stop looking at my wife!" he warned them quickly, pointing at them.

The Hatter rolled her eyes, seeming more amused then annoyed, "I would listen to him," she told the men, "The only reason he let me be the one to burst out of the cake was because he lost a bet with me that we would get here on the first go," she shook her head, casting the Doctor a pointed look as he blushed faintly, "But never mind that!" she turned back to Rory, grinning broadly once more, "Four stag nights and an a hens night later, we've finally found you!"

The Doctor sighed, reaching up to straighten his bow tie, "It's been a long night," he muttered, very, very relieved to have found Rory, since he had only just managed to escape the hens night with his clothing intact. The Hatter hadn't been any help at all, giggling while all the women had swarmed him with pink, feathery boas. It was safe to say that pink was no longer a colour he was very keen on…or feathers, for that matter, "Anyway," he gave himself a sharp shake, trying not to shiver at the memory, "That reminds me, there's a girl standing outside in a bikini," he informed the men, "Could someone let her in and give her a jumper?"

"Her names Lucy," the Time Lady added, "Quite a lovely girl…"

"Diabetic," the Doctor lowered his voice as if it was a big secret.

The blonde shook her head, frowning thoughtfully, "Why she would be wearing a bikini in the middle of the night, this far in land I have no idea," she commented, a note of concern entering her voice.

All the men looked at each other, even the Doctor cast her a look as if to check that she was actually being serious, before deciding that she was being perfectly serious, and the corner of his mouth twitching in amused, "Ah, dear," he stepped closer to the cake, whispering to her just why Lucy was wearing a bikini.

The Hatter blinked, looking momentarily surprised, "Oh," her cheeks coloured slightly. Just when she thought she had grown out of her childhood naivety, something like this happens.

He smiled at her, tucking that little moment away to tease her about later as he turned back to the humans, focusing on Rory, "Now then, Rory," he began, his tone turning a little sharper, "We need to talk about your fiancée," Rory grinned, looking down to the picture on his shirt lovingly, "She tried to kiss me".

Everyone gasped as Rory lost his smile, blinking.

The Hatter leaned over the edge of the cake and smacked the back of the Doctor's head, making him yelp, whirling around to look at her, "We talked about this!" she hissed at him, looking annoyed, "We agreed that Amy would tell him!" she reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose, shaking her head, "Oh, I really did marry an idiot, a rather adorable one, but still an idiot".

The men gasped again, exchanging looks at the knowledge that Amy had not only tried to kiss another man, but a married one at that.

"Sorry, dear," the Doctor winced, rubbing the back of his head in the spot that she had hit. He cleared his throat and turned back to Rory, "Tell you what, though. You're a lucky man," he nodded to him, trying to lighten the mood a little, "I bet she's a great kisser".

Someone dropped their glass, causing it to shatter as the entire room fell silent, staring at the Doctor with wide eyes. The Hatter could only groan, covering her face.

He frowned slightly, looking around at everyone as Rory's mouth fell open, "Funny how you can say something in your head and it _sounds_ fine…" he trailed off awkwardly.

"No, sweetheart," the Hatter sighed heavily, uncovering her face, "Not even in your head could that have sounded 'fine,'" her eyes drifted around the room, eyeing how a couple of Rory's friends seemed to be sizing the Doctor up, rubbing there knuckles, "Ah…I think we had better leave," she said nervously, looking quickly back to the Doctor, "As in, _right now_ ".

The Doctor seemed to have noticed the same thing as she had, "Yeah, good idea," he nodded, looking just a little bit worried as he reached up, taking her hand and helped her to climb out and down the cake.

"Come on, Rory," the Time Lady hurried over to Rory, not wanting to leave the Doctor alone for too long as she grabbed his arm, pulling him along, "We've got a surprise for you".

Rory didn't even try to argue as he allowed himself to be pulled passed the cake by the blonde, far to stunned as the Doctor led the way, casting the humans around them nerves looks as they heading towards the kitchen door, and disappeared through it.

….

The Doctor was sitting in the harness seat underneath the TARDIS console, surrounded by cables and wires with a pair of goggles on, welding something, while the Hatter leant against a railing above him, watching him through the glass floor with an raised eyebrow. Not even she knew what he was fiddling with, she just hoped that whatever it was, he didn't end up blowing anything up.

Amy paced nervously off to the side of the console by the steps that lead off into the hallways of the time machine, throwing mildly worried looks over to Rory, who stood by the Hatter, seeming to be a bit more comfortable around the blonde as he stared around the console.

Something sparked violently, spraying the Doctor with golden sparks, "Oh, the life out there, it dazzles!" he was calling up to the others, ignoring the sparking as the Time Lady inwardly winced, patting the railing apologetically, "I mean, it blinds you to the things that are important," something else sparked and again, he ignored it, "We've seen it devour relationships and plans…" the console sparked violently and smoke billowed up from the console, causing Rory to jump. The Hatter closed her eyes, shaking her head in exasperation, "It's meant to do that," he looked up through the floor, not in the slightest bit concerned.

Rory glanced at the Hatter as she stepped over to the console, waving the smoke away, "It's really not," she sighed, quickly checking over the spot that the explosion had come from for any damage, "Sweetheart, please try not to blow the TARDIS up!" she called down to the Doctor, "You know how much she hates that".

"I know what I'm doing!" he waved her off, just as something else sparked.

She raised her eyebrows and turned around to look at Rory, "He's such a typical man, sometimes," she remarked to him, sounding amused, "It doesn't matter if he failed his TARDIS examination, he still insists that he knows what he's doing".

"Because for one person to see all of that," he continued, glancing over to Amy, who was still pacing, "To taste that glory and then go back…" he looked up to Rory, "…it will tear you apart".

"Which is why we're going to send you guys somewhere," the Hatter cut in, her voice bright as she gestured to Rory and then over to Amy, who paused in her pacing, "Together, so you can reconnect".

"Whoa!" Amy paused, looking back and forth between the Time Lords, "What, like a date?"

"Anywhere and at any time that you want," the blonde nodded, smiling happily as the Doctor slipped off the harness, pulling his goggles off as he began making his way back up to the console, bent low to avoid hitting his head, "There's just one condition we have, which is that it has to be brilliant".

The Doctor hurried up to the steps to the console, "The Moulin Rouge in 1890," he suggested, reaching the top and stepping over to the Hatter, wrapping his arm around her waist, "The first Olympic Games".

"Consider it to be our wedding present," the Hatter added, catching sight of Amy edging around the side of the console. Despite the smile and her cheerful tone, she still gave the red head a pointed look and inclined her head towards Rory.

"Because, frankly, it's either this or tokens," the Doctor agreed as he and the Time Lady stepped around the console to Rory, who was looking around, still appearing quite amazed, "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he pattered his shoulder as he moved past him, letting go of the blonde as he jogged up a set of steps, "Tiny box, _huge_ room inside. What's that about?" he reached the top of the steps and spun back around, "Let me explain".

"It's another dimension," Rory remarked straight away, making the Hatter turn to him, breaking into a broad smile.

"It's basically another dimens..." he began, stepping back down the steps, before pausing as he realised what he had said, "What?"

"After what happened with Prisoner Zero, I've been reading up on all the latest theories," he replied, shrugging, "FTL travel, parallel Universes…"

The Hatter laughed, throwing her arm around his shoulders, taking him by surprise, "Oh, I knew I liked you," she said, nodding, "You're brilliant".

The Doctor pouted slightly as he reached the bottom of the steps, fixing Rory with a serious look as he stepped closer to him, "I like the bit when someone says 'it's bigger on the inside!'" Rory simply looked back to him, "I always look forward to that".

"Never mind, sweetheart," the Time Lady let go of Rory and stepped over to him, patting his arm sympathetically, "I'm sure you'll find a way to live on," she finished in a teasing tone, moving over to the console, flicking a switch.

"So, this date…" Amy cut in, sensing another flirty, banter filled fight coming on between the Time Lords as she moved around the console, "I'm kind of done with running down corridors," she reached Rory's side as the Time Lords exchanged looks, "What do you think, Rory?"

"How about somewhere…" the Doctor waggled his eyebrows at the Hatter, who grinned cheekily back to him as he grabbed a lever, "Romantic?" he pulled the lever, sending them off.

Amy grabbed the console as the TARDIS began jolting around and Rory quickly grabbed a railing, his eyes wide as the Time Lords danced around the controls, sliding against the glass floor as they did so. Soon enough, the shaking died down and the TARDIS landed.

"Here we are," the Hatter clapped her hands excitedly, linking her arm through the Doctor's.

"Come on," the Doctor called over his shoulder as they moved around the console and down the steps, hurrying over to the doors, throwing them open, and stepping out with Amy and Rory behind them.

They looked around to find that they had landed in the middle of a busy market place with everyone dressed in mid 1500s clothing, going about their business, not even stopping to look at them. The Hatter couldn't help but laugh softly, taking it all in as she quickly sniffed the air to check exactly where and when they were. She and the Doctor hadn't discussed where they would take the couple once they had tracked Rory down, but she had to admit that he had picked the perfect place. She had always had a soft spot for Venice, loving the buildings, the art, the history…

"Venice!" the Doctor cheered, throwing out his arms, laughing excitedly, "Venezia!" he glanced at the Hatter, feeling quite proud of himself at the look of delight on her face, "La Serenissima! Impossible city," they moved closer towards the edge of the canal before them as Rory and Amy looking around in amazement, smiling broadly, "Preposterous city!"

"This entire city was founded by refugees trying to get away from Attila the Hun," the Hatter commented, laughing as she shook her head, waving a hand around in her own excitement, "It was once just a little village of wooden huts built in the middle of a marsh land, and now look at it!"

He grabbed the Time Lady's hand and twirled her around on the spot, making her laugh even more, "It's become one of the most powerful cities in the world," he added, planting a kiss on the blonde's cheek as he reeled her out and spun her back into his arms, "Constantly being invaded, constantly flooding, constantly just…" he shook his head, waving his hand around as he wrapped his arm around the Hatter's waist, "…beautiful".

The Time Lady glanced over to Amy and Rory, still grinning, "Oh, you just have to love Venice, even just for the buildings alone".

"And so many people did," the Doctor agreed as they turned and began making their way through the market, glancing at the little stores as they passed, "Byron," he started rattling off, "Nepoleon, Casanova…oh!" he gasped suddenly, coming to a stop, and checked his watch, looking alarmed as the Hatter gave him an amused look, "That reminds me," he muttered, shaking his head as a look of relief crossed his face, "1580, that's all right," he lowered his wrist, "Casanova doesn't get born for a hundred and forty five years. Don't want to run into him," he glanced back to Amy and Rory, "I owe him a chicken".

Rory's eyes widened, "You owe Casanova a chicken?" he asked, sounding a little dubious.

"Yes, he does," the Hatter nodded, looking quite proud of herself as they began moving through the market again.

"Long story," the Doctor sighed, shooting the blonde a quick look crossed between accusation and guilt, "We had a bet".

The Time Lady cast him a sharp look, making him wince, "Yes, about _me_ ," she said, not sounding very pleased as she looked back over her shoulder to Amy and Rory, "Mind you, this was before the Doctor and I ever got romantically involved," she explained, her eyes drifting back to the Doctor, "This idiot bet Casanova that he wouldn't be able to charm me, without even telling or asking me first".

"I said I was sorry!" he tried, shifting slightly, making a face. He really had been sorry by the end of that adventure and had learnt a very valuable lesson about never making a bet regarding the Hatter without asking her first, but of course his Sixth Self had been far too arrogant to even think what she might do to get him back, "Believe me, it wasn't any fun for me watching him try to seduce you," he frowned deeply, "It was the worst bet I ever made".

"Wait…" Amy cut in, her eyes flying back and forth between the Time Lords, "You said that you lost the bet," she said slowly, her eyes widening as she pointed at the Hatter, "You slept with Casanova?" she gasped.

"No, of course I didn't," the Hatter shook her head, looking amused as the Doctor's head snapped around to look at her, looking even more alarmed, "I'm a Time Lady and Time Lords simply don't do that," she informed Amy as the Doctor almost seemed to collapse with relief, "No, I managed to get Casanova to tell me about the bet and as payback to the Doctor, I made sure he lost," she smiled wickedly, "While he was certainly very charming, I'm afraid that even back then I was far too old and clever for flattering like that to ever work, so I simply kissed him, thus, by default, making the Doctor lose his bet".

"You call that a kiss!" the Doctor exclaimed, looking at her incredulous, "Casanova couldn't even walk straight after that and he asked you to marry him!"

She simply smirked, tilting her head innocently, "What can I say?" she shrugged, batting her eyelashes at him, "I had a very good reason to make sure it was good just to make sure you never thought about trying something like that again," she certainly wasn't going to mention just how much wine Casanova as consumed before the kiss had taken place. Quite honestly, she was more impressed that the man had been capable of speech, let alone walking, "Besides, it's not every day you get to snog a historical figure who is renowned for his conquests and I have to admit, he certainly lived up to his reputation," she finished.

He clapped his hand over his ears, shaking his head quickly, as if trying to shut out what she had said, "Can we talk about something else?" he practically begged, "Anything else…ooh, what about the time we thought Borusa was having an affair with the librarian?"

The Hatter laughed fondly and pulled his hands away from his ears, kissing his cheek as she did so, "I'll tell you a secret, sweetheart," she moved closer to whisper in his ear, "You are a far better kissing then Casanova," she grinned as she stepped back, reaching up to straighten his bow tie.

The Doctor raised his chin, looking quite smug, "I knew it".

"Okay, now you're starting to make me regret adding that to your already huge ego," she sighed, giving him a look.

He simply laughed, pulling her closer to his side as he turned and began leading them off through the market once more, turning a corner, only for a man dressed in black, official clothing to run into their path, waving a book around at them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he called quickly as they came to a quick stop, "Papers, if you please!" the Time Lords exchanged a look, "Proof of residency, current bill of medical inspection".

The Doctor reached inside his pocket and calmly withdrew the psychic paper, holding it up for the man to see, "There you go, fellow," he said as the man snatched it off him, looking at it closely, "All to your satisfaction, I think you'll find".

The man's eyes widened as he read whatever the paper said, looking back up to them, "I am so sorry, Your Holiness," he bowed deeply to the Doctor before turning to the Hatter, pulling off his hat as he bowed to her, "And Your Majesty," the Hatter raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who winked back to her, "I didn't realise…" he muttered.

The Doctor waved his apology off, "No worries," he assured the man, glancing to Rory and Amy as they watched on, "You were just doing your job".

"Just out of curiosity," the Hatter cut in, eyeing the man, "What is it that you do, exactly?"

"Checking for aliens, my Lady," he replied, making Rory gasp in alarm, his eyes snapping over to the Time Lords, "Visitors from feign lands what might bring the plague with them".

"Oh, that's nice," Amy remarked loudly, throwing the Time Lords glares, "See where you bring me?" she leaned across and smacked the Doctor's arm, "The plague!"

"Don't worry, Viscountess," the man turned and bowed to Amy, who inclined her head, playing along with her new title. Rory gave her a double take, "No, we're under quarantine here. No one comes in, no one goes out, and all because of the grace and wisdom of our patron, Signora Rosanna Calvierri," he pointed proudly to the crest engraved into the wooden back of his book.

"How interesting," the Doctor looked curiously at the crest, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "We heard the plague died out years ago," he glanced back up to the man.

"Not out there," he shook his head, waving a hand around, "No, Signora Calvierri has seen it with her own eyes. 'Streets are piled high with bodies,' she said".

"Did she, indeed?" the Hatter hummed thoughtfully, raising her eyebrows.

The Time Lords exchanged a suspicious look and linked arms, moving past the man, and off down the street, Amy and Rory following after them.

Rory grabbed the psychic paper off the man, ignoring his shout of protest as he frowned down at what it said as they walked, "Er…according to this, I am your eunuch!" he called after the others.

Amy paused and glanced back to him, "Oh, yeah," she nodded, waving him off, "I'll explain later".

"What about me?" the Time Lady looked back over her shoulder to him, wondering just who the Doctor had made her.

Rory looked back down to the paper and his head snapped up, "The Queen of England!"

The Hatter blinked, surprised as she looked back to the Doctor, "Seriously, sweetheart?" she shook her head, looking as if she was fighting back the urge to laugh.

The Doctor grinned at her and picked up her hand, kissing it, "Well, you've always been a Queen to me, dear," he told her brightly, and this time she couldn't stop herself from laughing, rolling her eyes at his response. He shrugged, "I would have made you the Queen of Scotland, but this was the closest I could get".

"Oh, you really are a sweetheart," she smiled, reaching up to kiss his cheek, giving him an amused look as she pulled back, "But seriously, making me as a Queen was laying it on a bit thick".

He simply shook his head and continued grinning. They continued making their way down the street, when they noticed a group of men, woman, and even a couple of children gathered along the edge of a canal, whispering with each other as they pointed across to the other side of the canal where a procession of young women in white gowns and heavy veils covering their faces as they held parasols above their heads walked across the other side of the canal from what appeared to be a large house.

The Time Lords, Amy, and Rory moved closer to the crowed to watch curiously, leaning over the edge of a stone railing. Amy looked across to the Doctor and the Hatter, laughing in delight as they smiled back to her, before focusing their attention back across to the other side of the canal.

Suddenly, an older man ran towards the procession, "What do you want?" a woman in black demanded as she led the woman.

The man pushed passed her, "Where's my Isabella?" he called almost frantically, hurrying over to one of the girls.

The Doctor and the Hatter straightened, watching on in even more interest than before as the Time Lady swallowed. She knew the look of a desperate, terrified parent anywhere, and that man was the perfect image of just that.

"What are you doing?" the woman in black shouted at the man, "Get away from there!"

The man ignored her and lifted the veil of one of the girls, "Isabella?" he cried, quickly moving on to another girl, lifting her veil. He continued searching until he lifted the veil of another girl to reveal a young girl that look similar to him, obviously his daughter, "Isabella!" he seem to sigh in relief, "It's me!"

Isabella seemed to almost try to move away from him, her face appearing to be scrunched up in pain, when one of the other girls dashed forward and pushed the man down onto the ground, hissing at him. Even from across the canal, the Time Lords could see pointed fangs protruding from the girl's mouth, and they exchanged sharp looks.

"Girls, come on!" the woman in black ordered.

The girls turned away from the man on the ground, lowering their veils once more as the procession continued on its way. A young man stepped forward, dressed in elaborate clothing, and he put his boot onto the man's chest, forcing him to remain on the ground. Seeing all that they needed, the Doctor and the Hatter grabbed each other's hands and hurried off down the street, leaving Amy and Rory behind, knowing that they needed to speak to that man, because whatever it was that was going on, he was the best bet they had to make a start on figuring out what was going on.

….

It didn't take the Doctor and the Hatter long to track down the man, running discreetly through the streets, not wanting to scare him off in case he looked back and caught them following him. He rubbed his shoulder, no doubt tender from the scuffle as the Doctor leaped onto a staircase, just as the man passed it, pulling the Hatter up with him.

"Who were those girls?" the Doctor called to him, leaning around the edge of a building.

The man stopped and turned back to face them, seeming surprised, "I thought everyone knew about the Calvierri school," he remarked.

"Oh, we haven't been around here long," the Hatter told him, giving him a smile, "Only arrived today, actually".

"It's okay," the Doctor added, stepping down the steps towards the man, eyeing him curiously as the Time Lady tilted her head, stepping beside him, "Parents do all sorts of things to get their children into good schools," he continued to the man, "They move houses, they change religion…"

The blonde nodded along with him. It was the same way even on Gallifrey, only those kids who had enough money, influence, or brains managed to get into the Academy and those who didn't have those things usually ended up entering the military. Even the Doctor's own family, despite their own money and influence, had expected him to end up in the military, not believing that he had enough brains to manage to get into the Academy in the first place. It was only due to the Doctor's determination to be accepted into the Academy and become a Time Lord did he manage to get in at all, not to mention his Mother and Father's encouragement.

"Which is why we are so interest in why you would want to get your daughter out?" the Hatter finished, eyeing the man's reaction.

The man cast a quick, almost nervous look around the passageway, checking to make sure no one was listening as he turned back to them, "Something happens in there," he informed them quietly, looking fearful for his daughter, "Something magical, something evil," pain crossed his face, "My own daughter didn't even recognise me. And the girl who pushed me away, her face…like an animal".

The Time Lords exchanged looks as the Doctor wrapped an arm around the man's shoulders, quickly glancing up and down the street, "I think it's time we met this Signora Calvierri," he commented softly to him.

The Hatter smiled slightly, her eyes twinkling as she meet the man's eyes, "And I think I already have something in mind on just how to do that…" she said, a plan already forming in her mind.

The Doctor grinned at her, wrapping his other arm around her waist as they turned, and began making their way back down the street.

…

Isabella's father, who the Time Lords soon learnt was called Guido, marched across to the guards standing outside the large gate to the entrance of the Calvierri school, "You have my daughter!" he began shouting at them as the Time Lords quickly moved along the edge of the canal, "Isabella!"

"No, you're not coming in, just stop there!" one of the guards tried ordering Guido, stepping towards the man, giving the Time Lords the perfect chance to slip closer to the gate, "Look, we've told you…"

They managed to slip along the side of the building, carefully moving along the edge of the canal.

"You have my daughter!" Guido continued shouting at the guards, making sure that they turned their backs to the Time Lords, "Isabella!" he cried up again, "I demand you let me see my daughter!"

The Time Lords moved across to a gate on the side of the building and the Doctor grabbed his sonic, flashing it at the lock. The Hatter lightly pushed it open, taking a deep breath, hoping it wouldn't make any noise, but luckily it didn't.

"Go away!" the guard tried.

"Isabella, it's me! It's your Father!"

"We will arrest you…" a second guard warned, stepping closer to Guido.

"Isabella!" he called again, his eyes flickering over to the Doctor and the Hatter as they slipped through the gate and snuck into the school.

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand as they made their way carefully into a large entrance hall, sweeping their eyes around. They spotted a doorway off to the side of the room and hurried over to it, not wanting to risk being caught out in the open like that as the Doctor pushed the door open, finding that it led down a set of spiralling, stone stairs.

They quickly moved down the steps, listening carefully as they made their way down until they reached a large chamber, lit dimly by candle light around the room. They hesitated at the bottom of the steps, peeking around the edge of the archway to make sure no one was waiting in the shadows before making their way into the room. The Doctor spotted a mirror hanging on the wall and strolled over to it, smirking.

"Hello, handsome," he remarked, admiring his reflection as the Hatter turned around to look, shaking her head in amusing as he straightened his bow tie and checked his teeth.

"Oh, we are modest today," the Time Lady laughed, moving to stand by his side. She glanced at her own reflection and carefully adjusted her hat before giving the mirror a nod.

The Doctor's eyes drifted across to meet hers in the mirror and he broke into a broad grin.

"Who are you?" several voices asked in unison, all belonging to woman.

The Time Lords paused, not seeing anything in the mirror as they spun around to find five, very pale girls in white nightgowns standing behind them, staring at them curiously. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks before glancing back to the mirror, only to find that not one of the girls were visible.

"But how…?" the Hatter began, her eyes widening as her head snapped back to eye the girls, unable to stop herself from feeling impressed and just a little bit annoyed that she couldn't work how they were doing it, "That's very…" she shook herself, "How are you doing that?"

The Doctor looked back and forth from the girls to the mirror, opening and closing his mouth for a moment, "I…am…loving it," he finally managed to get out, turning to face the girls, breaking into an impressed smile, "You're like Houdini, only five slightly scary girls, only he was shorter".

The Time Lady leaned closer to him, lowering her voice, "I think you mean _will_ be shorter," she corrected lightly, adding, "And you're rambling, sweetheart".

"I'll ask you again," the girls spoke in unison once more, still eyeing them eerily, "Who are you?"

"Why don't you check this out?" the Doctor whipped out a black wallet, holding it up for the girls to see.

The Hatter sighed slightly, trying hard not to pinch her nose, "Ah, Doctor," she cut in, taking the wallet from him and flipping it around for him to see an ID card…with a photo of his First regeneration. She smiled at him, growing amused.

"Oh, right," he muttered, a little embarrassed as he took the wallet back, casting the card a mildly exasperated look, "Library card," he shook his head, quickly slipping it away in his pocket, "Of course, it's with…he's…" he mimed a long nose.

The blonde nudged his side sharply, casting him a scolding look, "Don't be rude, Doctor," she told him sternly, shaking her head, "Besides, you really need to think about getting a spare".

"Remind me later, dear," he nodded, forcing himself to get back on task as he looked back to the girls, eyeing them, "Pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight and can't be seen…" he glanced back to the mirror, the corning of his mouth twitching as he looked at the Hatter, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She smiled back to him, laughing softly, "Oh, I'm only just resisting making a vampire joke, sweetheart," she assured him, before a frown crossed her face, looking back to the girls, "But what about the city?" she questioned, "Why would you shut down the city? Unless…" she trailed off, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Leave now, or we shall call the Steward…" the girls warned, breaking into creepy smiles, raising their eyebrows at them, "…if you are lucky," they began hissing and baring there fangs, slowly advancing upon them.

"Time to go," the Doctor swallowed a little nervously, grabbing the Hatter's hand as they backed over towards the doorway leading to the stairs. He paused, pushing her behind him as he turned back to the girls, holding up his hands, "Tell us the whole plan!" the girl simply hissed even more aggressively, still moving towards them. He sighed and glanced at the Hatter, "One day that will work…"

"Not likely, sweetheart," the Hatter pattered his arm, trying to pull him back up the stairs.

"Listen," he continued, turning back around to face the girls, walking backwards up the steps, "We would love to stay here. This whole thing…" he shook his head, laughing, "We're thrilled. Oh, this is Christmas!"

The Time Lady broke into a broad grin, agreeing with him as she pulled him back up the stairs, the girls hissing after them. They continued running back out of the school and through the streets, barely noticing that night had fallen as they headed back to the spot that they had first spotted the girl, and ran straight into Amy…

"Doctor!" Amy cried, grinning as she grabbing hold of the Time Lords arms, "Hatter!"

"We just meet some vampires!" the Doctor shouted in his own excitement as Amy said at the same time, "We just saw a vampires!"

They both starting talking at once as the Hatter looked back and forth between them, struggling to hold back a laugh, finding the whole thing quite amusing.

"And creepy girls and everything," he nodded, smiling widely, letting go of Amy to wrap his arm around the Hatter's waist

"Vampires!" Amy exclaimed, practically jumping on the spot in her own excitement.

"They even wore nightgowns," the Hatter commented, shaking her head, still looking highly amused by Amy and the Doctor's antics. Rory ran up to them, panting for breath as he came to a skidding stop before them, "And hello, Rory," she flashed him a cheerful smile.

Rory looked to the Time Lady, his eyes wide with panic and shock, "We think we just saw a vampire!" he gasped.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know," the Doctor nodded to him, his excitement starting to calm down, "Amy was just telling us".

"Yeah!" the red head grinned, laughing slightly as she turned to Rory, "The Doctor and the Hatter actually went to their house".

"Oh…" Rory blinked, not quite seeing why the other three seemed so happy and excited, "Right," he nodded, swallowing, "Well…"

The Hatter stepped over to him, patting his arm reassuringly, seeing the look on his face, "Don't worry about it," she said softly to him, giving him a comforting look, "We do this sort of thing all the time, you'll get used to it".

"Okay, so…" the Doctor cleared his throat, stepping over to Rory, and lightly slapping his cheeks. He glanced at the Time Lady, "First we need to get back in there somehow," he nodded across the canal towards the school.

"What?" Rory exclaimed, looking at them as if they were insane.

"How do we do that?" Amy asked at once.

"Back in where?" he shook his head at them.

The Time Lady smiled at them, liking her arm through the Doctor's, "Come say hello to a new friend of ours," she told them brightly, giving them a wink, "His name's Guido".

….

Guido's house was a small, stone cottage not far from the school. The main living space was dimly lit by candles and the large fireplace, along the back of the room were several large barrels, Rory sat beside them, watching while the Time Lords and Amy stood in the middle of the room by a table as Guido rolled a large map of Venice across the table.

"As you saw, there's no clear way in," Guido remarked, nodding down to the map before them, "The House of Calvierri is like a fortress. But there's a tunnel underneath it, with a ladder and shaft that leads up into the house," he run a finger across the map, looking back up to them, "I tried to get in myself, but I hit a trapdoor".

"You need someone on the inside," Amy said, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"No," both Time Lords shook their heads in unison, not even looking up from the map.

She looked across to them, frowning, "You don't even know what I was going to say!"

The Hatter looked up from the map, giving her a look, "You were going to suggest that you become a student of the school, thus allowing you inside," she answered, sounding as if she had heard it all before, "And then tonight you would sneak down to the trapdoor and open it, letting us in".

"Oh…" she blinked, looking surprised and unsure. This was the first time that she and the Time Lady had spoken since the night before and she wasn't sure of just how she was supposed to act around the Hatter now. Not that the blonde had really acted differently towards her, perhaps a bit more distant, but she just couldn't shake off the feeling of shame and guilt that washed over her every time she looked at the Hatter or Rory, even the Doctor had acted colder towards her. The whole thing was just a complete mess. She sighed and shook her head, "So you do know what I was going to say," she mumbled.

"Are you insane?" Rory stared at Amy.

The red head cast the Time Lords looks, "We don't have another option".

"They said 'no,' Amy," he gave her a pointed look, " _Listen_ to them".

"There is another option," Guido suddenly spoke up, making them all look at him. He pointed across the room to Rory, who blinked in confusion, or more accurately to the barrels behind Rory, "I work at the Arsenal," he explained as the Doctor stepped over to the barrels and Amy gave Rory a startled look, "We build the warships for the navy".

The Doctor began sniffing the air around the barrels before leaning up to examine one of them, "Gunpowder," he determined, turning back around as Guido smiled, nodding proudly.

"How did you manage to steal all of that without being noticed?" the Hatter shook her head, looking almost impressed as she raised her eyebrows over to Guido. Rory turned very pale and slowly began sliding off the barrels, his eyes wide, "Most people just steal pens from their work…well," she paused, tilting her head in consideration, "I suppose it is a different time, no health and safety…"

Rory stood and backed away from the barrels…and right into a dead rabbit hanging from a hook on fireplace mantel, making him jump.

The Doctor frowned at Guido, moving back to stand beside the Hatter, taking her hand, "Look," he began, "The Hatter and I have a thing about guns and huge quantities of explosive…"

Guido slammed his hand on the table, "What do you suggest, then?" he snapped, throwing both Time Lords glares as he marched over to the fire, grabbing the poker and poking at the flames angrily, "We wait until they turn her into an animal?"

Amy glanced at Rory before looking away, "I'll be there three, four hours, tops," she tried again.

The Hatter struggled not to smile as she exchanged a look with the Doctor. She could see how tempted he was to agree and she had to admit that she was tempted to agree, too, she just wished that she could have been the one to go, but they knew her face now. Besides, the Doctor would never, ever agree to that.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," the Doctor quickly shook his head, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself, rather than anyone else, "It can't keep happening like this. This is how they go," he flopped down on the edge of a bed against the wall, holding his head in his hands for a moment before looking up as the Hatter sat beside him, retaking his hand, "But we have to know…" he sighed, "What do you think, dear?" he asked the blonde.

The Hatter took a moment to answer, weighing up everything carefully as she glanced over to Amy. She could see Rory shaking his head, not looking pleased in the slightest by the idea, while Amy gave her a hopeful smile, "I think…" she said slowly, taking a deep breath, "That while I'm not happy about the idea of sending Amy into that school, it is a risk we're going to have to take".

Rory stared at the blonde with wide eyes. He had expected the Hatter to agree with him about this entire idea being mad, that she would come up with another option, not that she would actually agree to it.

"I'm sorry, Rory," the Time Lady gave him an apologetic look, noticing his expression, "Believe me, if there was any other way, I would take it. But the fact is that we need to know what's going on in that school and if doing so means we save lives, then that makes it even more important to do so".

The Doctor nodded along with her, looking resigned as he looked over to Amy, "We go together," he told her, leaning back against the wall, "Say you're my daughter".

The Hatter raised an eyebrow at him, struggling not to laugh. As if he could pass as Amy's father, the idea alone was hilarious.

"What?" Rory exclaimed, stepping over to Amy, "Don't listen to him!"

"Your daughter?" Amy scoffed at the Doctor, eyeing him, "You look about nine".

The Doctor shrugged, "Brother, then".

"Too weird," she shook her head, a suggestive look crossing her face, "Fiancé".

Rory frowned at her, "I'm not having him run around telling people he's your fiancé".

"Not to mention the fact he's already married," the Hatter cut in, casting Amy a sharp look. She wasn't jealous or threatened by Amy, not in the slightest, she knew that no one could possibly come between her and the Doctor, there relationship was simply too old and strong for anything like that to happen, but that didn't stop her from feeling upset that Amy would even try to flirt with the Doctor while she was in the same room, not to mention with Rory standing there, watching. She had thought that she and Amy were closer than that.

Amy winced, "No," she nodded, lowering her head, looking ashamed. She hadn't meant to say it, but it had slipped out before she could stop herself. She couldn't even bring herself to look at the Doctor to see what his reaction was, "No, you're both right…"

"Thank you," Rory said, giving her a nod.

"I mean, they've already seen the Doctor," she continued quickly, trying to fix her slip as she turned to Rory, "You should do it".

He blinked, looking startled as he glanced over to the Time Lords, "Me?"

"Yeah," she smiled, reaching up to ruffle his hair, "You can be my brother".

The Hatter tilted her head, trying to work out how calling Rory her brother was so much better then him being her fiancé. She glanced at the Doctor, exchanging a look with him as he shook his head and kissed her cheek. He could see how uncomfortable with Amy she was, but she was trying hard to hide it. Trust and loyalty had always been two things that she had valued in people, and Amy had completely broken that.

"Why is him being your brother weird, but with me, it's okay?" Rory asked, stepping back from Amy with a deep frown, "This whole thing is mental!" he exclaimed, waving his hands around, "They're _vampires_ , for God's sake".

"We hope, at least," the Hatter remarked quietly.

Amy looked over to the Time Lords, "So if they're not vampires…" she said slowly.

"Makes you wonder what could be so bad it doesn't actually mind us thinking it's a vampires?" the Doctor finished, sticking his top teeth out, imitating a vampire.

The Hatter made a hissing sound and used the sleeve of her coat to hide her lower face, before bursting out laughing at her own childishness, "Sorry," she said through giggles, letting her arm fall back to her side, "Couldn't resist".

The Doctor grinned at her and lowered his face to nuzzle her neck, making her laugh even harder as his breath tickled her. Amy swallowed and turned away, feeling guilt wash over her once more.

…

A bell toiled in the distance as the Doctor, the Hatter, and Rory sat in a gondola as Guido, wearing Rory's stag party shirt, having swapped his clothing with Rory, guided them along the canal towards the school.

"She'll be fine," the Doctor tried to assure Rory, noticing how tense the other man looked.

"You can promise that, can you?" Rory practically snapped at him, too busy worrying about Amy. He was terrified, hating having to sit there while Amy was off, surrounded by possible vampires.

The Hatter winced, knowing that she couldn't promise, not even to try and make him feel better. She reached forward and placed a hand on Rory's shoulder, giving it a squiz, "Amy is clever and resourceful," she said gently, "She's a fighter, you know that. If anyone could get into that school and out again, which she will, I promise you that, it's her".

"Yeah?" he glanced back to her in the darkness, a note of accusing in his tone, "But can you promise she'll make it out of there unharmed?"

She swallowed and let her hand drop from his shoulder, knowing that there really wasn't anything else she could say to try and comfort him. She wished she could, she wished that she could promise him that Amy would be fine, but the truth was that she couldn't. She was even stretching it promising that she would make it out of the school in the first place, because there was every chance she wouldn't, and she hated it. All she could do was try to reassure herself that Amy had wanted to go into that school and that she knew the risk, but even that sounded hollow to her.

The gondola drifted into a large tunnel and Guido guided it across to the edge of the tunnel were a gate was, "We're here," he informed them, making the boat come to a stop.

The Doctor stood, carefully balancing himself as he stepped across to the edge of the canal, holding the lit torch in his hand as he pushed the gate open, making it creak. He held out a hand and helped the Hatter over as Rory followed.

"Thank you, Guido," the Hatter called back over her shoulder to the man, giving him a small smile.

They began heading up a set of stone steps in a tunnel, "Right," the Doctor glanced back over his shoulder to Rory, still walking as he spoke, "Okay, I'll go first. If anything happens to me…" he gave the Hatter a pointed look, "Go back".

"Not a chance, sweetheart," the Time Lady shook her head, her voice firm, "Besides, someone has to come and rescue you, don't they?" her voice turned teasing and she gave him a wink, but she wasn't entirely sure that he saw it in the dark.

"Me? Getting rescued?"

She shrugged, smirking at him, "Wouldn't be the first time I've had to rescue you, though, rescuing you from vampires would be a first".

"What happened?" Rory cut in suddenly, catching there attention, "Between you and Amy?" he clarified, gesturing to the Doctor, "You said she kissed you…"

" _Tried_ to kiss me," the Doctor corrected at once, throwing him an incredulous look over his shoulder as they came across a set of wooden steps leading up to a door, "And _now_? You want to do this _now_?"

"I have a right to know. I'm getting married in four hundred and thirty years".

He cast him an almost amused look, taking the Hatter's hand, "It took us centuries to get married, I think you can manage a couple of hours," he commented, pushing the door open, and stepping into a long, narrow passageway.

"He does have a right to know, Doctor," the Hatter said lightly as they began making their way through the passageway, "After all, this is his fiancé we're talking about".

"Yeah, exactly," Rory agreed quickly, nodding to the blonde.

The Doctor sighed, "Alright," he replied, "She was frightened," he began, trying to explain, " _I_ was frightened…"

"We were all afraid," the Time Lady added, glancing back to Rory, "We all half expected to die at any moment".

"But we survived, you know?" he continued, "And the relief of it…and so she tried to kiss me".

Rory frowned at his back, "You said tried to?" he questioned, just wanting to make sure.

"Yes, _tried_ ," he nodded, his tone turning firm and very serious, coming to a stop in the middle of the passageway to look back to him, "I would _never_ do anything to hurt the Hatter or that would damage my marriage," he looked to the Hatter, who smiled brightly at him.

"Oh, sweetheart," the Hatter murmured, reaching up to kiss him, lingering for a moment longer before pulling back. She cleared her throat and turned to Rory, grateful for the dim light as it hid her blush, "Look, she tried to kiss the Doctor because he was there and she wanted to be comforted," she explained gently to him, "That's all".

"It should have been you," the Doctor tapped Rory's chest, turning around and beginning to walk along the passageway once more, "It _should_ have been you".

"Yeah," Rory sighed slightly, still seeming a little annoyed, "It _should_ have been _me_ ".

"Exactly," he smiled, not noticing his sigh, "That's why the Hatter and I brought you here," a strong gust of wind suddenly blew through the passageway, ruffling their hair, and blowing out the torch, sending them into pitch darkness, "Can we go and see the vampires now, please?" he whispered.

 _ **This was so much fun to write and so was the next part, I really love this episode for some reason. Also, I thought I ought to tell you that I've finished the first episode part of 'The Two Doctors,' so we're getting there, I really want to try and have it published either by Christmas or before the end of the year, but I can't make any promises in that regard.**_

 _ **Next time, our Time Lords crash into a suit of armour, the Hatter's sweet tooth makes an appearance, and what does the Hatter do while brushing her hair in the morning that amuses the Doctor? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (chapter 9):**_ _ **I usually try to make it as more of a team effort and that they both come with the idea and work together to fix the issue. It's a hard balance to try and make, but hopefully the next chapter's ending will be a bit better in that regard. Thanks for the review :)**_


	12. Chapter 12 Vampires of Venice, part 2

_**Vampires of Venice, part 2**_

The Doctor pushed the grate on top of the well up, standing on Rory's shoulders and head as he climbed up, while the Hatter winced from beside Rory, looking at the pained expression on his face.

"Push…" he muttered, managing to pull himself up and over the edge of the well, jumping over the side to land on the ground. He took a moment to cast his eyes around, finding that they were in the middle of a large, darkened courtyard before turning back to the well, thrusting a hand down the gap.

"I do apologise for this," the Hatter said to Rory, giving him a sympathetic look as the man rubbed his shoulders with a painful grimace, "I promise that I'm lighter than the Doctor is, at least," she smiled slightly.

Rory threw a look up towards the top of the well, "He's heaver then he looks," he grumbled slightly.

She laughed and nodded, "Oh, I know," she agreed.

"Are you coming up or not?" the Doctor called down the well, waving his hand around.

"Coming, sweetheart!" she replied loudly.

Rory put his hands together and she put a hand on his shoulder to balance herself as she carefully stepped onto his hands, reaching up to grab the Doctor's out stretched hand. The Doctor held her hand tightly and pulled her up through the opening on the grate, helping her to balance on the edge of the well as she reached the top, slipping off the edge, and onto the ground beside him. Once she was up, they turned back and helped pull Rory up.

"Come on," the Doctor gritted his teeth as the Hatter scrunched up her face, "There we are…" they managed to pull Rory up and the Hatter helped him to balance on the edge of the well as the Doctor turned back to look around the courtyard, "Amy!" he hissed, glancing back to Rory and the Hatter, "Where's Amy? Amy? I can't see a thing," he frowned, trying to see through the mist and darkness.

"Just as well I brought this, then," Rory remarked, pulling a small penlight from his pocket, and turning it on.

The Doctor simply glanced at it before reaching inside his pocket and withdrawing a large, florescent torch, bathing them in the blue light, "Ultraviolent," he shrugged as Rory looked back to him, eyeing his torch with wide eyes. The Hatter struggled to hold back a laugh, "Portable sunlight".

"Yours is bigger than mine".

He shot him a look, "Let's not got there".

"Boys!" the Hatter held up a hand, deciding that or though it was amusing, she really didn't want to get involved as she noticed Rory open his mouth, "Can we please focus on something else?" she tried, reaching up to rub her forehead. She began patting down her coat, before finding a torch in one of the pockets. It wasn't quite as large as the Doctor's, but it would shine enough light to see.

"Right," the Doctor gave her a small smile, "Sorry, dear".

The Time Lords began wondering around the courtyard, shining there torches around, while Rory watched on anxiously, shifting on the spot.

"If we cancel now, we lose the deposit on the village hall," he sighed, shaking his head, "The salsa band…" the Doctor came across a large chest across the yard, against the wall and undid the clasps, pulling it open to reveal a skeleton. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the remains, taking a step back, "What happened to them?" he gasped.

The Hatter hurried back over to see for herself and swallowed as she stepped closer to the chest, moving to kneel beside it, eyeing the remains closely, "Goodness…" she breathed, carefully picking up the skeleton's hand, running her fingers over it, "This is quite interesting," she glanced back up to Rory, "It's had all the moisture taken out of it".

Rory swallowed, "That's what vampires do, right?" he frowned, "They drink your blood and replace it with their own".

"Yeah, except these people haven't just had their blood taken," the Doctor looked over to him, his voice grim, "But all the water in their entire bodies".

"Why did they die? Why aren't they like the girls in the school?"

The Hatter exchanged a look with the Doctor, taking a deep breath as she turned back to Rory, "Perhaps…" she began slowly, "Not all those who undergo the procedure survive it…"

Rory turned away in frustration, running a hand down his face, not in the slightest bit pleased by the information. He whirled back around after a moment and pointed at them, "You know what's dangerous about you two?" he narrowed his eyes at them, "It's not that you make people take risks, it's that you make them _want_ to impress you," the Hatter winced, ducking her head, knowing that he was right, "You make it so they don't want to let you down," he continued angrily, "You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves when you're around".

"You're right, Rory," the Time Lady nodded, standing and stepping towards him, "We do effect people and change them, sometimes in bad ways. And yes, sometimes we forget that, but…" her tone turned sharper, fixing him with a look, "We never forget the dangers we put them in. We've lost people we've cared for, had to witness them die right before our very eyes, so don't you dare ever try to tell us we don't have any idea".

Rory's mouth fell open in surprise, staring at her, never having expected that as even the Doctor looked slightly surprised by her reaction, but he supposed that he really shouldn't have been. The Hatter had always been very sensitive when it came to people questioning the way she tried to protect or the dangerous she put those she loved through, even more so after April's death. He had even been on the receiving end of her anger when he had once over stepped, and ended up getting slapped.

"Who are you?" several voices questioned from out of the darkness, making them jump, looking around to find six girls stepping out from the archways around the courtyard.

The Doctor leaped back onto his feet, grabbing the Hatter's hand as she pulled Rory closer to them, any anger she might have felt before fading in an instant. The Doctor held up the ultraviolet light, waving it around at the girls as they hissed at them, making them flinch back.

"We should run!" he called to the others, "Run!" he pushed Rory over towards a doorway leading into the main school and the girls chased after them, not deterred for very long by the light.

They raced into the school, trying to make their way through the darkened hallways, all the while with the sound of hissing coming from behind them, when the Doctor got his foot caught on the edge of a rug as they turned a corner a little too sharply, sending him crashing into a suit of armour sitting against the edge of a wall, taking the Hatter along with him.

"Oh!" he yelped in surprise and pain as the armour rain down upon him and the Time Lady, both finding themselves sprawled face first across the floor.

"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted, sounding highly exasperated, wincing painfully as she struggled to try pulling herself back up. She could already feel a lump beginning to form on the back of her head from where a piece of the armour had knocked her hat off, and the bruise on her knee ached painfully from the rough landing, "For goodness sakes!" she threw him a glare, grabbing her hat off the ground, and jamming it back on her head roughly, "Of all the times you had to knock over a suit of armour, being chased by Dracula's brides was not one of them!"

The sound of hissing grew louder, followed by footsteps as Rory, who had managed to avoid being hit by the armour, quickly helped pull the Time Lord's back onto their feet, throwing a nervous look back down the corridor they had ran down.

"Sorry, sorry!" the Doctor called, knowing that she was going to make sure he never forgot this. He grabbed her hand and set off running down the hallway once more, glancing back over his shoulder, "Rory, come on!"

Rory didn't need to be told twice as he ran after them, but they didn't get far before their path was blocked by a dark haired woman, the same elaborately dressed man they had seen outside the school earlier, and another man in black, making them come to a skidding halt before them.

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look before the Doctor turned back to the three, raising an eyebrow, "Cab for Amy Pond?"

"And he says I'm bad," the Hatter muttered to Rory, shaking her head in amusement, but that soon faded when the girls caught up with them.

The dark haired woman smirked, glancing to the two men beside her, "This rescue plan, not exactly watertight, is it?"

The Doctor simply grinned, whirling around towards the approaching girls, "Ha, ha!" he exclaimed in triumphant, waving the ultraviolet light at the girls, keeping them back.

"Rory!" Amy suddenly ran into the hallway with the girl that the Time Lords recognised as Isabella.

"Amy!" Rory gasped, relieved as he reached out to grab her arm.

"Quickly, through here!" Isabella called, turning and leading them out of the hallway, making the Time Lords, Amy, and Rory run after her as the girls began chasing after them once more.

"Seal the house!" the dark haired woman ordered someone from behind them.

Isabella led them down a hallway and over to a door, throwing it open to reveal a set of stone stairs leading down into a tunnel under the school. They hurried down it, slamming the door behind them.

"They're not vampires!" Amy informed them loudly, looking back over her shoulder to the Time Lords. The Hatter noticed with a jolt of concern that she had two fang marks on her neck and that she looked paler then normal, even in the blue light of the Ultraviolet. She made a mental note to check her over as soon as they got to safety.

"What?" the Doctor asked, flashing his sonic at the door, trying to give them a bit more time.

"I saw them. I saw her. They're not vampires, they're aliens!"

He laughed quietly, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "Classic," he remarked, slipping his sonic back inside his blazer, turning and running down the stairs after them.

"That certainly narrows down the list," the Hatter smiled, her mind already racing with possible species, though, she was just a little bit disappointed that she wouldn't be able to make any more jokes about vampires now.

"That's _good_ news?" Rory shook his head, throwing them looks as if they were insane, "What is wrong with you people?"

The Time Lady laughed, feeling quite grateful that the adrenalin was still raging through her system, otherwise she was sure she would have been limping down the stairs, "Oh, believe me, I ask that question to myself every day," she assured him, tilting her head in consideration, "Along with thinking about six impossible things before breakfast. You should try it, it's quite amusing".

"She's serious, too," the Doctor added from behind her, sounding highly amused himself, "She does it while brushing her hair in the mirror," the sound of the door being forced open sounded, along with someone's laughter as he lost his smile, throwing a look back over his shoulder, "Never mind that," he gave himself a shake and frowned as he noticed that Rory had slowed in front of them, "Come on, Rory. Move!"

The Hatter lightly pushed Rory's back, urging him to move faster through the tunnel as the sound of footsteps grew louder behind them. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the elaborately dressed man hurrying after them, holding a lit torch with his fangs bared, leading the girls after them.

The Doctor noticed, too, and waved the ultraviolet light back towards them, laughing as the man flinched back, covering his face as the girls did the same, "Keep moving!" he called to the others, trying to urge them to go faster as the sound of footsteps sounded once more behind them, "Come on, guys!"

They reached a door and Isabella pushed it open, ushering the others outside as the first rays of the morning sun shone and a church bell rang in the distance. Guido looked up from where he was still waiting by the canal with the gondola.

"Quickly, quickly!" the girl shouted urgently, stepping off to the side as Amy and Rory ran out of the tunnel, hurrying down the wooden steps, "Get out," the Time Lords ran out of the tunnel and after the others, "Quick, quick!" she began to follow them when she was hit by a beam of sunlight, making her cry out in pain as it burnt her, trying to cover her face as she stumbled back.

"No!" the Hatter cried, realising what was happening. She moved to run back up to the girl, trying to pull off her coat to cover the girl to protect her from the sunlight.

The Doctor's eyes widened, catching on, "Come on!" he ran back up the steps towards her, reaching out his hand, "Run!"

"I can't!" Isabella called painfully, stumbling back into the doorway. Hands began reaching out towards her and dragged her back inside the tunnel.

"Isabella!" the Time Lords yelled, but it was already too late as she disappeared out of sight.

The Doctor leaped for the door as it was slammed shut in his face, pounding on it, just trying to get it to open, when it was electrified.

"Doctor!" the Hatter gasped, jumping forward as he cried out in pain, before staggering backwards. She managed to catch him before he fell, wincing as his weight sent them both onto the ground, her already bruised knee protesting painfully, but she ignored it, focusing on the Doctor. She held him tightly and quickly checked his pulse, closing her eyes in relief as she felt the double beats still going, if not a little faster than normal.

Rory and Amy ran back up the stairs towards them, Rory kneeling beside the blonde.

"Is he dead?" Amy asked, swallowing hard as she closed her eyes tightly.

"No, he'll be fine," the Time Lady told them quietly, giving both humans a comforting look as Amy's eyes snapped open, looking relieved, "He'll wake soon," she picked up his hand and examined his fingertips, smiling slightly, "He didn't even get burnt, a human certainly would have. Though, I highly doubt they would have survived the shock in the first place".

Amy and Rory nodded as her eyes drifted over towards Guido, watching him sadly as the man turned away to look out over the canal, the grief for his daughter written across his face, knowing that he would never see her again. She wished she could say or do something to comfort him, but she knew from experience that nothing anyone said or could do would ever help to ease that pain.

…

The Hatter sat calmly on a throne like chair in the middle of a large room in the school, her legs crossed as the Doctor stood beside her, one arm resting on top of the chair as they waited. Footsteps sounded and after a moment the same dark haired woman they had come across while saving Amy strolled into the room, busy removing her gloves. Apparently, so Amy had told them, she was called Rosanna and she was the one in charge of the entire school.

"Hello," the Time Lady called to the woman, making her head snap up, finally becoming aware of their presence as she came to a stop, "Aren't you a little far away from home?" she raised her eyebrows at her, tilting her head, "Saturnyne, yes?".

"Sister of the Water," the Doctor added, smiling faintly.

Rosanna stared at them for a long moment, a frown crossing her face before it was replaced by a smirk, "No, let me guess…" she looked between them, "The owners of the psychic paper," the Doctor held out his hands and shrugged. She glanced behind her, as if checking to make sure no one else was around, "Then I take it you're refugees, like me?"

"We'll make you a deal," he began, "An answer for an answer," Rosanna eyed them for a moment before inclining her head in agreement, almost appearing amused, "You're using a perception filter. It doesn't change your features, but manipulates the brainwaves of the person looking at you".

"But for someone to see you for the first time," the Hatter continued, watching the woman as she paced, seeming surprised by their knowledge, "For them to see you in a mirror, for instance, the brain doesn't know what to fill the gap with, so it simply leaves it blank," she shrugged, "Hence the lack of reflection".

"You're question?"

"Why can we see your big teeth?" the Doctor asked, showing off his own teeth.

Rosanna laughed, "Self-preservation over rides the mirage," she answered and the Hatter almost kicked herself for not even considering that, "The subconscious perceives the threat and tries to alert the conscious brain".

"Well, that's certainly very interesting," the Hatter remarked, smiling slightly. She always did love it when she learnt something new, "But onto a different note…" she lost her smile, her expression growing very serious, "Tell us where Isabella is?"

"My turn," she shook her head quickly, seeming to be enjoying herself, "Where are you from?"

The Doctor took the Time Lady's hand, "Gallifrey," he replied.

Her eyes widened, looking at them in a completely different light, "You should be in a museum," he laughed slightly as the Hatter resist against the urge to make remark about just how true that felt some mornings, "Or a mausoleum".

The Time Lady cleared her throat, "What are you here for, exactly?" she questioned curiously.

"We ran from the Silence. Why are you here?"

"Wedding present," the Doctor told her, frowning, "The Silence?"

"There were cracks," she explained, a troubled look crossing her face, "Some were tiny, some were as big as the sky. Through some we saw worlds and people, and through others we saw Silence…and the end of all things. We fled to an ocean like ours, and the crack snapped shut behind us…" she looked down briefly, "Saturnyne was lost".

"And is Earth supposed to become another version of Saturnyne?" the Hatter eyed her carefully. She could certainly see and understand just why she would want to try rebuilding her home, but what about the people who already live on this planet?

Rosanna looked up to them eagerly, "And you can help me," her eyes drifted across to rest on the Doctor, smiling at him as he raised his eyebrows, "We can build a new society here, as others have," her smile widen, "What do you say?"

"Hmm," the Doctor pretended to think about it as he stepped closer to her, looking at her closely for a moment, "Where's Isabella?" he moved around her.

She frowned, seeming confused as she turned to face him, "Isabella?" she repeated.

The Hatter tightened her grip on the armrest of the chair, feeling anger flare up inside her at the fact that Rosanna couldn't even be bothered to remember the girls name, "Forgotten her already?" she cast her a cold look, "She was the one who saved our friends life".

"Oh, deserters must be executed," she waved the question off, "Any general will tell you that," she fixed the Doctor with a look, stepping even closer to him, "I need an answer, Doctor. A _partnership_ ," she raised her eyebrows suggestively, "Any which way you choose".

The blonde sighed slightly, pinching the bridge of her nose, crossed between feeling amused and annoyed that yet another woman had made suggestive advance towards the Doctor in as many hours. It had to be a record for him. She was really going to have to check and see if he had changed his shampoo or something, because it was getting tiring having to watch another woman trying to flirt with him. After all, they were hardly keeping their relationship a secret.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, do you?" he almost smirked at her, stepping back, "I'm a Time Lord. You're a big fish," his eyes drifted away from her, shaking his head, "Think of the children. And besides," he turned and strolled away from her, and back over to the Hatter, taking her hand, "I'm already happily married".

Rosanna glared after him, her gaze sweeping over both Time Lords, "Carlo?" she shouted, stepping towards them as the Hatter stood from the chair, "You're right. We're nothing alike," a man hurried into the room, "I will bend the heavens to save my race, while _you_ …" she pointed at the Doctor, "Philosophise".

"I'm afraid that this ends today," the Hatter told her, her voice as cold as ice as she fixed her with a very serious look, "You've ruined enough lives".

"We will tear down the House of Calvierri, stone by stone," the Doctor threatened, meeting Rosanna's eyes.

Carlo reached out to grab the Hatter's arm, but she slapped his hand away, turning to glare at him, "Don't touch me," she snapped angrily, making the man back away from her as she glanced at Rosanna, "I won't be manhandled, thank you".

The Doctor cast the woman one last look before he and the Time Lady turned, walking across the room towards a door, where they paused, turning back to look at Rosanna, "And you know why?" the Doctor asked her, turning his own glare onto her, "You didn't know Isabella's name".

And with that, the Time Lords turned and walked out with Carlo following closely behind them. They stepped outside the main doors of the school.

"Open the gate!" Carlo ordered the guard, who opened the gates, and the Time Lords walked out, even more determined than ever to stop what was happening.

…

Once they arrived back at Guido's work, the Doctor examined the bite marks on Amy's neck, flashing his sonic across it, slowly healing it, before checking the results, "You're fine," he assured her, slipping the sonic back inside his blazer as Amy frowned slightly, rubbing the spot on her neck.

The Hatter smiled and withdrew a paper bag from her pocket, "Here we are," she pulled a yellow jelly baby from the bag, leaning across towards Amy from the opposite end of the table, "Open your mouth, please…" Amy blinked, looking slightly confused, but did as she was told, and the blonde slipped the lolly into her mouth, "Yellow, my favourite," she finished cheerfully, reaching inside the bag for a lolly herself.

"Hatter, is this really the time for sweets?" the Doctor asked her as he began pacing the room, his movements agitated.

She shrugged, popping a lolly into her mouth, "They help me think, sweetheart," she replied.

He paused for a moment, seeming to consider that before holding out his hand, "Jelly baby, dear?"

"You really ought to get in the habit of carrying them around with you again," she remarked, shaking her head as she handed him a couple of jelly babies.

He went back to pacing once more, popping the lollies into his mouth, "We need to think," he muttered, "Come on brain, think, think. Think!" he flopped down at the end of the table, looking frustrated as Rory and Guido, who were sitting on the other side from Amy, back in their rightful clothing, watched on, " _Think_!"

"If they're fish people, it explains why they hate the sun," Amy commented, swallowing her lolly.

"Stop talking…" the Doctor quickly covered her mouth with his hand, not even looking at her, his eyes fixed on the Hatter, "Brain thinking. Hush".

Rory frowned, shaking his head, "It's the school thing I don't understand…" he began.

He placed his hand over Rory's mouth, too, "Stop talking, brain thinking," he repeated, once again not looking at him, "Hush".

"I say we take the fight to them," Guido looked between the Time Lords, looking angry.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the Doctor looked over to him.

He opened his mouth, looking confused, "What?"

" _Ah_!" he gave him a look, before nodding pointedly to Rory.

Rory covered Guido's mouth, casting the man an apologetic look as he did so.

"Her planet dies," he said thoughtfully, his eyes remaining fixed on the Hatter, who nodded along with him, "So they flee through a crack in space and time and end up here, then she closes off the city and, one by one, starts changing the people into creatures like her to start a new gene pool," he muttered, seeming to be talking more to himself then to anyone else, "Got it. Then what?"

"Well, we know that they come from the sea," the Hatter cut in, tilting her head thoughtfully, "That's one of the reasons why they chose Earth, due to all the water, but it also has to mean that they can't survive for long on land," she frowned slowly as the Doctor nodded along with her, "Which means that she'll have to find a way to try changing the environment to make the city liveable for her race".

"Remember what she said?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows to her, "She said, 'I shall bend the heavens to save my race'. Bend the heavens…" he began forcing Amy and Rory's heads to nod, staring across the table to her, both feeling as if they were on the edge of working it out, "…bend…the heavens…"

The Time Lady gasped in realisation as they meet each other's eyes, "She's going to sink Venice!" they exclaimed in unison as the Doctor removed his hands from Amy and Rory's heads.

Guide blinked, startled as Rory's hand moved away from his mouth, "She's…she's going to _sink_ Venice?" he repeated, sounding a little doubtful.

"And repopulate it with the girls she's transformed," the Doctor nodded over to him.

"You can't repopulate somewhere with just women," Rory shook his head, glancing around the table, "You need…blokes".

"She's got blocks," Amy suddenly said, closing her eyes.

The Time Lords heads snapped around to look at her, "Where?"

"In the canal," she answered, opening her eyes to look at them, "She said to me, 'there are ten thousand husbands waiting in the water'".

"Oh, of course," the Hatter nodded slowly, a frown crossing her face, "That explains why she only took in young, female students. The male offspring must have been the only ones to survive the journey across to here".

The Doctor looked thoughtfully across the table to the blonde, "She's got ten thousand children swimming around the canals, waiting for Mum to make them some compatible girlfriends," he grimaced as the Time Lady cringed, and she thought her ex-husband arranging there oldest son's wife had been bad enough, "Ugh," he made a disgusted face, shaking his head, "I mean, I've been around a bit, but really that's…that's…ew," he shivered.

"It almost makes the arranged marriages back on Gallifrey look okay," the Time Lady muttered, looking just as disgusted by the idea as the Doctor. She had loved her children and would have done anything to insure that they had a happy marriage, but actually creating the girl or boy was just a step to far. Still, at least the marriages might have been a little bit happier.

Something thumped loudly upstairs, making them all jump and look up towards the ceiling as the creaking continued.

"The people upstairs are very noisy," the Doctor remarked to Guido as the Hatter sighed, closing her eyes briefly.

Guido looked across to him, "There aren't any people upstairs," he informed them grimly.

"Do you know, I knew you were going to say that," he nodded, looking around to the others, "Did anyone else know he was going to say that?"

"Of course, sweetheart," the Hatter groaned, shaking her head warily as she looked down the table to him, "Pretty much every horror movies has at least one person who says that, right before everyone gets killed or attacked".

Amy glanced at her, looking surprised, "You watch horror movies?"

She shrugged, grimacing, "My campions enjoyed making me watch romance, terrible sci-fi, and horror movies," she explained, "Apparently, they enjoyed listening to my ranting at the screen whenever a character would walk into a darkened room or listening to my annoyed lectures during a sci-fi movie".

"And the romance movies?"

"Romance movies are ninety five percent angst, I get enough of that on a daily bases, I'd rather not watch a movie about it, thank you. My companions used to make me watch romance movies whenever they got annoyed with me about something, needless to say, I spent a lot of time hiding from them when I knew they were annoyed".

The ceiling above them creaked loudly again, almost as if someone was walking across it.

Rory frowned up at it, "Is it the vampires?" he asked, whispering.

The Doctor glanced over to him, "Like we said, they're not vampires," he corrected, holding up the ultraviolet light, clicking it on, "Fish from space".

Something banged loudly and the Time Lords jumped to their feet, the Hatter hurrying around the table to the Doctor's side, just as the glass on the windows shattered, causing Amy to yelp. The girls from the school appeared around one of the windows, bearing there fangs at them as they all stared, wide eyed at them, shocked.

"Aren't we on the _second_ floor?" Rory gaped at the window, standing slowly as Guido crossed himself.

The Doctor waved the ultraviolet light around at the girls as they smashed the window, trying to hold them back as the Hatter reached inside his blazer pocket, pulling the sonic screwdriver out, and flashed it at the girls in the window, revealing there true, half insectoid-fish like forms.

Guido stared at them, "What's happened to them?" he gasped.

The Hatter swallowed, looking at them sadly, "There's nothing left of them anymore," she told the others, "This is what they become once they're fully converted".

"Blimey," the Doctor eyed the girls from beside the Time Lady, his eyebrows raised, "Fish from space have never been so…buxom".

The Time Lady cleared her throat loudly, nudging his side pointedly, "Doctor, other women trying to flirt with you is fine, a little annoying, yes, but the other way around, and you'll find yourself in a lot of trouble, sweetheart," she informed him sternly, giving him a sharp look.

His eyes widened as his head snapped around to look at her, "They're nothing compared to you, dear," he said quickly.

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, "To late, Doctor".

"What about breakfast in bed tomorrow?"

"Tempting…let's discuss this when we're not being chased by 'buxom' alien fish, shall we?"

He sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Oh, I'm going to pay for that remark," he muttered to himself, not looking forward to it. She was going to tease him about it later, he could just tell. He gave himself a shake, "Okay!" he called to the others, grabbing her hand, "Move!"

"Come on," Rory began ushering the others out of the room and down the stairs, Amy going first as he quickly followed after her, the Time Lords, and Guido right behind them.

"Give me the lamp!" Guide shouted to the Doctor, who handed it to him, seeing that the girls where right behind the man. He flashed it behind him at the girls, forcing them back, before running after the Time Lords as they reached the bottom on the stairs.

Amy pushed the front door open and ran out into the courtyard, "Go, go, go, guys!" the Doctor urged from behind them, "Keep moving!" Rory ran out the door, followed closely by the Time Lords, "Go, go, go!"

The Time Lords ran out of the house, glancing back when they realised that Guido hadn't followed them, only to find him standing in his doorway, looking determined, "Stay away from this door!" he called to them, slamming the door shut on himself.

They ran back over to the door and began pounding on it, "No!" the Doctor yelled through the door, "Guido, what are you doing?"

"Come on, Guido!" the Hatter tried desperately, hitting the wood. She already had an idea of just what he planned to do, because if she had been in his shoes, she probably would have done the same thing. In fact, she had thought about doing just that once before, only she had the Doctor, Guido had already lost everything, "Please, don't do this!" she pleaded, feeling her eyes beginning to water, "There's other ways, and we're not going to leave you!"

The Doctor frowned at her, realising she knew more than he did, "What is he doing?" he asked her, feeling dread wash over him.

She shook her head and tried using the sonic on the doors lock, but it was no use. Guido had bolted the door, not to mention the fact the door was made of wood. She and the Doctor really needed to work on that issue.

"Guido!" he shouted up to the house, making birds fly off, before turning to the Time Lady, "Hatter, what is he doing?" he asked again, this time even more urgently.

She grabbed his hand, slipping his sonic into her pocket to give back to him late, and began trying to pull him away, grimly resigned, "Sweetheart, think about it," she said sadly, trying to pull him faster, "He's lost everything, he's lost his _child_ , Doctor, and now he's barricaded himself inside a house that's stocked with gunpowder, along with the people who took his child away from him," his eyes widened as it hit him and she nodded grimly, "Yes, exactly".

He held her hand tighter as they began running away from the house, just as it exploded, sending them flying from the force onto the ground as smoke, bits of rubble, and paper filled the air behind them. With the sound of the explosion still ringing in their ears, the Doctor pulled himself back onto his feet and helped the Hatter to stand, wrapping an arm around her waist as she winced from the fall. If she didn't have enough bruises from the incident with the suit of armour, she certainly did now.

Amy and Rory hurried over to them as they looked back over to the smoking house. They could hear people shouting in the distance down the street, sounding panicked and afraid.

"It's happening," the Hatter said softly, her eyes drifted up towards the sky to see grey clouds moving across the sky, rippling with lightening, "Rosanna, she's initiating the final phase of her plan as we speak".

"We need to stop her," Amy began to turn away, looking ready to run off down the street, "Come on!"

"No, no, no," the Doctor cut across her, shaking his head as the Time Lady cast him a curious look, wondering exactly what he was up to, "Get back to the TARDIS".

"You can't stop her on your own," she argued, frowning at him.

"I'm not alone," he waved her off, shooting her a sharp look as he pulled the Hatter closer to his side, "I'm _never_ alone, I have the Hatter".

"And me…"

"We don't discuss this!" he snapped, turning on her as he let go of the Hatter, stepping closer to Amy, "We tell you to do something, Amy, and you do it," she opened her mouth, looking hurt and angry, "Huh?" he fixed her with a look.

Amy looked over to the Hatter, who gave her a firm nod, before turning and storming off.

Rory looked after her for a moment before glancing at them, "Thank you," he nodded sincerely to the Doctor, and ran after Amy.

The Doctor sighed slightly, watching as he disappeared around the corner after the red head, "You're welcome".

The Hatter stepped up to his side and took his hand, squizzing it, "That was very good of you, sweetheart," she remarked quietly to him. She hadn't quite worked out what he was doing until he had snapped at Amy, but once she had, she couldn't help but feel quite proud of him. She knew he hated having to snap at Amy like that when she hadn't done anything wrong…well, not anything wrong at that moment.

He turned to her and quickly kissed her forehead, "She's still struggling to remember that you are my wife," he frowned, remembering what Amy had said about him going on his own.

"Give her time. She and Rory only had a little bit of time to themselves today, and even then, there date was still gate crashed by an alien fish".

People began screaming again as a loud rumble of thunder sounded overhead, catching there attention.

"That's our cue," he remarked, looking back to her.

And with that, they turned and ran off down the street. They ran through the streets, trying to avoid panicked people as they stared up at the sky, pointing at the clouds with fear, some trying to find shelter, but the Time Lords simply kept running, until they reached the school, hurrying through the deserted gates, the guards nowhere in sight as they entered the school.

They made their way to the throne room and calmly across to the chair that the Hatter had sat in earlier, setting to work examining it, before finding what they were looking for and pulling open the padded front of the chair to reveal the alien circuitry within. The Hatter pulled the Doctor's sonic out of her pocket, flashing it at the machinery, trying to scan it.

"You're too late," Rosanna's voice came from behind them, sounding pleased. They paused, turning around to see her standing in the middle of the room. She broke into a smile, "Such determination…" she remarked, shaking her head, "Just to save one city. Hard to believe it's the same man that let an entire race turn to cinders and ash," her eyes drifted across to rest on the Hatter, "And the woman who built the very weapon that did it," she stepped closer to them, still smiling, "Now you can watch as my people take their new kingdom".

"Have you ever played chess before?" the Hatter asked her suddenly, attempting to ignore the stab of guilt and pain in her hearts at the mention of Gallifrey. She stepped away from the chair and over to the woman, "The Time Lords invented it, did you know? It was possible one of the only games that they managed to come up with that was actually fun and wouldn't endanger the players with death…well…" she paused, seeming to consider what she had just said, "Not unless you won against the Master, he was quite a poor loser, even back then, but he was an even worse winner".

The Doctor cleared his throat, leaning closer to the Hatter to whisper in her ear, "You're rambling, dear".

She blinked and smiled a little sheepishly, "Ah, yes, sorry," she turned back Rosanna, who was eyeing her with a frown, "It's easy to get side tracked by the past," she forced herself to grow serious once more, "You see, you made a very big mistake, sending all of your converted girls after us like that. You could have won…or come close to winning, if you had kept even just a few of them behind, and now they're all gone".

Rosanna stepped back from them, her eye widening as she looked back and forth between them, "You're lying," she said quickly.

"Shouldn't we be dead?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows, watching her reaction as she stared at them, trying to find any trace of a lie, "Hmm?" she seemed to realise that they were telling the truth as she turned and began to walk back down the room, heading for the door, "Rosanna, please, help us," he called after her, "There are two hundred thousand people in this city!"

"So save them," she snapped, storming out of the room.

The Hatter sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose, before turning back to the chair, quickly examining the equipment's, "She's locked it," she informed the Doctor, handing the sonic screwdriver back to him as she straightened, "But there has to be another control hub, we might be able to shut down power there".

He nodded and grabbed her hand. They ran out of the room, down a hallway, and out onto a balcony, pausing to look down as they could see people running around below, screaming as thunder rumbled loudly overhead, just as a bell toiled, making them both look up at the sound to see the bell tower looming above them.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he glanced at the Hatter.

She smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow, "Bell tower?"

He grinned broadly, kissing her cheek, "Bell tower," he confirmed, pulling her back inside and off down the hallway, back to the throne room, just before it began raining heavily.

They raced back down the room towards the chair, when Amy and Rory, both looking quite wet, ran into the room from the side door, making them skid across the floor in an attempt to avoid running into them.

"Get out!" the Doctor shouted at them impatiently as the Hatter moved around them, moving back up to the throne, "We need to stabilise the storm!"

"We're not leaving you," Rory told them stubbornly, stepping forward as the Doctor passed him and Amy, joining the Time Lady.

"Right," he scoffed, turning back and walking over to them, "So one minute it's all, 'you make people a danger to themselves,' and the next it's, 'we're not leaving you!'" Amy put her hands on her hips, "But if one of you gets squashed or blown up, who gets the…

The ground suddenly shook violently, sending them all crashing onto the floor as bits of the ceiling rained down upon them, before calming once more.

"What was that?" Rory asked, pointing up at the ceiling.

"Oh, nothing to worry too much about," the Hatter shook her head, pulling herself back onto her feet by grabbing the chair, "Just an earthquake".

Amy frowned at them, sitting up, "An earthquake?" she repeated.

"It's a side effect of manipulating the elements," she replied, sounding quite calm as she returned her attention to the circuitry within the chair, "The process can trigger earthquakes".

"But don't worry about them," the Doctor waved their concern off.

"No?" Rory questioned, standing, not appearing to be the slightest bit comforted.

"No," he continued, "Worry about the tidal waves caused by the earthquake".

Amy and Rory's eyes widened fearfully.

"Ah…but let's not think about that, just now," the Hatter cut in, casting the humans a comforting look over her shoulder, "Anyway," she cleared her throat, glancing back to the chair, "This chair is the first control hub and the programs locked".

The Doctor nodded along with her, turning back to face Amy and Rory, "We need you two to tear out every single wire and circuit in the throne," he instructed them, "Go crazy. Hit it with a stick, anything".

The Time Lady moved around to the back of the chair, fiddling with the wires at the back as Amy and Rory stepped closer to the chair, looking at the cables and wires, "While you two are doing that, the computer will automatically re-route control to the secondary hub," the blonde added brightly, finishing setting up the controls to do just that as she straightened, "Which will be the generator that's creating the storm".

"Got that?" the Doctor looked between Amy and Rory as he grabbed the Hatter's hand.

"Yeah," Amy answered, nodding.

The Hatter flashed them a smile, giving them a little wave, "Good luck".

She and the Doctor turned and raced out of the room, back through the hallways, and managed to track down the staircase leading up to the bell tower. As they entered, they both winced and covered their ears as the bell rang loudly, covering up the sound of the storm raging on outside. They continued to make their way further into the room, quickly finding a piece of alien equipment sitting in the middle of the room, connected to cables that seemed to run all the way up to the very top of the bell tower.

The Doctor flashed his sonic at it and checked the results as the Hatter grabbed his hand, shaking her head, gesturing up towards the top of the tower. He nodded and they quickly hurried up the steps leading to the top of the tower, but as they got closer, the sound of the bells ringing grew even louder, making them both groan painfully as the sound seemed to vibrate straight through them.

" _We need to stop that bell ringing, sweetheart_ ," the Hatter called telepathically into the Doctor's mind, her face scrunched up.

" _I'll give you a boost_ ," he replied, and she nodded. He picked her up by her waist and lifted her up enough to grab a hold of the clapper.

The bell stilled and the ringing stopped, making them sigh in relief as the Doctor lowered the Hatter back to the ground.

"Oh, I swear, If I end up going to deaf after this…" the Time Lady trailed off, grumbling as she rubbed her ears with a grimace.

The Doctor rubbed his own ears, "I can still feel them ringing," he remarked, before shaking his head. He cast his eyes around the room and spotted a thick cable leading up out of an arched window, appearing to be going up to the very top of the tower, and stepped over to it.

The Hatter moved to his side, "You'll have to do it," she said to him over the sound of the wind and rain flying passed the windows, making his head snap around to look at her in surprise, having expected her to argue with him, "Don't give me that look," she sighed, "You've always been a faster climber then me, and right now we need to stop that generator fast. Just…" she paused, reaching up to place a hand on his cheek, "Please do so carefully, sweetheart".

He smiled at her, "This has to be a first".

She returned the smile, laughing slightly, "Yes, well, don't get used to it," she told him in a mock stern voice, "I'm only doing this because we both know that out of the two of us, you are the better climber here. Next time we have to climb something, consider it my turn".

He nodded, his smile turning fond as he kissed the side of her hand quickly before turning around, and carefully climbing up onto the window ledge, hugging the column in the middle of window as the wind and rain poured down, ruffling his hair. The Hatter could only watch worriedly as he lost his grip for a moment and yelped loudly before managing to right himself once more, carefully pulling himself up along the side of the wall, gripping onto the cable as he disappeared out of sight.

The Hatter ran across to the window, one hand onto her hat to keep it from blowing off as she leaned out of the window, trying to look up to see the Doctor as he climbed along the slopping roof, until he reached the top of the tower where what appeared to be a large golden sphere sat. She wished she had gone with him, hating seeing him up there, doing it alone, but it simply would have been too dangerous for the two of them to try climbing up there at the same time, and besides, the Doctor would have been able to get up there faster then she could have.

"Come on, sweetheart," she murmured anxiously, griping onto the window column so tightly that her knuckles were white. It was taking every ounce of will power she had not to start climbing up after him, desperately wishing that she could be up there by his side, as if her being there might actually prevent him from accidently falling, "Come on…"

She watched as he pulled off one side of the sphere, but from the distance and the angle, she couldn't make out what was inside as she could only watch as he seemed to look at whatever was inside, waving his hands around, almost seeming frustrated.

" _Hatter_!" the Doctor's voice suddenly called telepathically into her mind, making her blink in surprise, " _What am I supposed to be looking for_?"

" _Show me what it looks like_ ," she said back, closing her eyes as an image of a large, spinning device, almost like a clock flashed across her mind, surrounded by cables. She took a moment to examine each detail of the image, before she caught sight of it, " _See that switch on the very top spinning dial_?" she called, " _Hit it_ ".

She opened her eyes to look back up to see his hand reaching out towards the device, when suddenly, the rain and wind stopped, the clouds disappearing to be replaced with bright sunshine, even the birds began singing. The Time Lady laughed happily, almost jumping up and down on the spot in her excitement.

Below, the sound of people cheering and applauding drifted up towards them as after a moment, the Doctor climbed back down the cable, soaking wet as he carefully climbed through the window and back inside the tower.

The Hatter immediately threw her arm around his neck, hugging him tightly, not even caring about her own clothing, "Well done, sweetheart!" she laughed into the side of his neck.

He grinned widely in return, holding her even tighter, "Do I get a kiss, dear?"

She rolled her eyes fondly, but pulled back enough to reach up and kiss him.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter ran down a hallway in the school and through a doorway that lead out to a stone platform that extended over a canal to find Rosanna standing at the end of the platform on a plank, still looking human, and only in her under dress, while her gown and jewellery laid in a jumble on the ground behind her.

"No, Rosanna!" the Hatter shouted, seeing what she was about to do as they moved towards her. Her eyes drifted over to the water in the canal to see it bubbling.

"One city to save an entire species," Rosanna said softly, not looking back to them, "Was that so much to ask?"

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand as they slowly stepped closer to her, "We told you," he told her, shaking his head, "You can't go back and change time. You mourn, but you live".

"Please, Rosanna," the Time Lady reached out a hand towards her, her eyes nervously moving towards the bubbling water, knowing what was hidden beneath, "We know how hard that can seem, how impossible it can feel like to ever imagine moving forward, but you _can_ do it," she tried, swallowing as the water bubbled even more, "And we know because we did it. We are _still_ doing it, even to this day".

She turned her head to look back to them over her shoulder, "Tell me, Doctor…Hatter…" she began, eyeing them, "Can your consciences carry the weight of another dead race?" they edged closer, "Remember us. Dream of us".

And with that, she stepped forward and fell into the water, disappearing beneath it as it bubbled even more fiercely.

"No!" the Time Lords cried, lunging forward towards the water, but it was too late. She was already gone, "No!"

They could only watch as the bubbling died down and the water settled once more. Slowly, the Time Lords pulled themselves back onto their feet, feeling as if they had failed.

…

It didn't take the Doctor and the Hatter long before they caught up with Amy and Rory, and began leading them back through the market place as people moved around, cleaning up after the storm had tossed food and baskets around.

"Now, then!" the Doctor said brightly, glancing back to Amy and Rory as they strolled through the marketplace, his arm linked with the Time Lady's, "What about you two, eh?" he raised his eyebrows back to them, "Next stop Leadworth Registry Office?" he exchanged a grin with the blonde before nodding to Amy, "Maybe I could give you away".

"If he gets to give you away, can I be your bridesmaid?" the Hatter asked Amy, sounding quite eager and excited by the idea, "I love being a bridesmaid, none of the pressure of being the bride, but still an important part of the wedding".

"You liked being a bride, if I remember," the Doctor remarked, casting the Time Lady an amused look as they reached the TARIDS, and he slipped his key into the lock.

"Well, when else can I tell people they can't argue with me because it's my wedding day?"

"It's fine," Rory cut in, sighing heavily, not sounding very fine, "Drop me back where you found me. I'll just say you've…"

"Stay…with us," Amy interrupted him, smiling at him as his head snapped around, looking surprised and just a little hopeful, "Please," she continued, glancing at the Time Lords as they tried to hold back pleased smiles, "Just for a bit," she turned back to him, grabbing his hand, "I want you to stay".

Rory looked to the Time Lords, looking hopeful as the Doctor grinned broadly at him, "Fine with me," he nodded.

"I think it's a brilliant idea," the Hatter agreed at once, smiling broadly at Rory.

"Yeah?" Rory looked around at them all, growing excited, "Yes…" he nodded, turning to Amy, "I would like that".

"Nice one," Amy cheered, kissing him quickly before pulling back, glancing across to the Time Lords as they didn't even bother to hide their pleased expressions, "I will pop the kettle on," she told them cheerfully, pushing the TARDIS doors open, "Hey, look at this," she looked back to them, "Got my spaceship, got my boys, and…girl?" she cast the Time Lady an unsure look.

The Hatter simply smiled at her, shrugging, more amused then anything. She was very, very glad to see that spending the day together had helped Amy and Rory, but she could tell that there was still a little bit more work to do, though, something told her that she and the Doctor wouldn't have to send them off on any more dates from now on.

The red head returned the smile, quite relieved that the Hatter didn't seeming to upset with her, and turned back to the TARDIS, "My work here is done," she finished, strolling through the time machines doors, closing it behind her.

Rory scoffed loudly, looking at the Doctor, "Er, we are not her boys".

"Well, _you_ certainly are," the Time Lady laughed, patting his arm, giving him a wink as she nudged the Doctor's side, "I'm afraid that the Doctor already has someone to answer to".

The Doctor laughed along with her, kissing her cheek, "And I wouldn't have it any other way, dear," he commented, pulling her closer to his side.

Rory smiled softly, nodding, "Yeah, I am," he agreed.

They moved to enter the TARDIS, when the Hatter and the Doctor stopped suddenly, both realising something off as Rory disappeared inside.

"Sweetheart…" the Hatter glanced at him, her eyes widening.

"I know," the Doctor nodded, looking just as worried as she did, his eyes roaming around the market, "Listen to that".

"It's just…Silence," she breathed, feeling a cold shiver run down her spine. She couldn't explain why, she just felt…dread wash over her, and it frightened her more then she would have liked to admit.

He swallowed and held her tighter to his side, "We should go," he muttered, unnerved.

Slowly, they slipped back inside the TARDIS and took off into the Time Vortex.

 _ **And now we're onto 'Amy's Choice,' very exciting. I've been waiting for ages to write that episode. Next chapter, we get a frantic Doctor, the Hatter is feeling uneasy, and a yo-yo makes an appearance. I don't think we've had a yo-yo since the Ninth Hatter regenerated and when I saw the chance, I just couldn't resist. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	13. Chapter 13 Amy's Choice, Part 1

_**Amy's Choice, Part 1**_

The TARDIS materialised in the small front garden of a stone cottage, surrounded by what appeared to be simply farm land, not another house in sight. It was actually quite idyllic. The Doctor opened the doors and pocked his head out, looking around before he looked down to find that they had landed on top of a flowerbed. He tried to step over it and ended up tripping on one of the stones around the boarder of the garden, stumbling slightly on the landing.

The time machine doors opened once more and the Hatter appeared, glancing around, before sighing slightly as she noticed what they had landed on, managing to leap over the top of the flowerbed without tripping.

"Oh, dear," she looked back down to the flowerbed, shooting the Doctor a look, "This is why you should let me be the one to land her".

Before he could reply, the cottage door opened and Rory stepped out with a ponytail sticking out from under the collar of his jacket.

"Rory!" the Time Lords cried joyfully as they caught sight of him.

"Doctor!" Rory grinned broadly at them, holding his arms out in greeting, his smile brightening even more as he looked across to the Time Lady, "And Hatter!"

The Hatter laughed and hurried toward him, "Oh, come here!" she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "It's good to see you again," she said cheerfully, pulling away from him.

"We've crashed your flowers," the Doctor informed him, pointing down to the flowerbed behind him.

Rory's smile faded slightly, almost looking worried as he looked down at the flowerbed, "Oh, Amy _will_ kill you," he told them, sounding very serious, adding, " _Both_ of you".

The Time Lady laughed, thinking he was joking, before she caught sight of the serious look on his face and quickly sobered, clearing her throat, "Ah…so, where is she?" she asked quickly, looking over towards the cottage.

"She'll need a bit longer".

"Whenever you're ready, Amy!" the Doctor called over towards the house, sounding amused. A moment passed and Amy stepped out, heavily pregnant. The Time Lords broke into delighted smiles, "Oh, way-hey!" he cheered as Amy grinned, holding out her arms as she began to waddle towards them, "You've swallowed a planet!"

Amy laughed, "I'm pregnant".

The Hatter hurried forward and pulled her into a hug, "Oh, this is brilliant!" she remarked, pulling back to take in Amy's stomach better, glancing at Rory, who was smiling broadly, "I'm so happy for you both!"

The Doctor stepped closer to Amy, his eyes wide, "You're huge!" he exclaimed, putting a hand on her stomach.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant," she nodded.

"Look at you!" he shook his head, glancing at Rory, still seeming amazed, "When worlds collide!"

Amy's smile dimmed slightly, eyeing him a little as the Hatter shook her head, highly amused. She could already see what was coming, "Doctor, I'm pregnant," she tried again.

The Time Lady wrapped her arms around Amy and Rory's shoulders, pulling them closer towards her, "Oh, it's wonderful to see you two again," she grinned at them, looking back and forth between them, "You know, you two haven't changed a bit in the past five years…well…" she trailed off, nodding down to Amy's stomach, laughing at herself, "Okay, so maybe just a little bit".

The red head laughed as the Doctor hugged her suddenly, before letting her go, seeming unable to take his eyes off her stomach, as if he had never seen a pregnant woman before, "Oh, it's good to see you two," she told them happily.

The Doctor nodded, his eyes still on her stomach, before looking back up to Amy's face, "Are you pregnant?" he asked.

The Hatter rolled her eyes fondly, letting go of Amy and Rory to link her arm through the Doctor's, "Typical," she commented, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Amy and Rory exchanged amused looks and shook their heads, moving back towards the cottage, so that Amy could grab her coat, wanting to show them around the village. Once she had her coat on, they headed off towards the village, leading the Time Lords down a small lane, and into the main heart of the town.

The Time Lords looked around as they walked, there arms still interlocked as they went, taking in the practically empty town. The entire place was just so…quiet and peaceful, and the Time Lady couldn't help but feel unnerved.

"Ah, Leadworth," the Doctor remarked after a moment as they began walking past the church, casting his eyes around with a small grimace, "Vibrant as ever".

"It's Upper Leadworth, actually," Rory corrected, smiling, "We've gone slightly upmarket".

"Is there a sweets shop?" the Hatter asked hopefully, glancing at him.

He laughed slightly, not surprised that the Time Lady's first question would be about lollies, "Yeah, just around the corner," he answered.

She smiled, feeling a little less unnerved, "Oh, good," she nodded, lowering her voice so that only the Doctor could hear, "This place can't be all boring, then".

The Doctor coughed, struggling to hold back a laugh, "Where is everyone?" he questioned, looking around again as a dog barked in the distance.

"This is busy," Amy told them, shrugging. The Time Lords gave her a look and she sighed, "Okay, it's quiet, but it's really…restful and…healthy," she defended, seeming to be trying to actually come up with some positive points about the place, "Loads of people here live well into their nineties".

The Time Lady tilted her head as she noticed an old women peeking out from behind her curtains in a cottage a short distance away, seeming to be looking at them. She couldn't help but frown, feeling that uneasy feeling creeping back over her again.

"Well, don't let that get you down," the Doctor commented, smiling as they headed over towards a park bench sitting on the edge of the village green.

The red head shot him a quick look, "It's not getting me down".

They sat down on the bench, the Doctor between Amy and Rory, while the Hatter sat on his lap, wrapping an arm around his neck as she did so.

"Well, we wanted to see how you were," the Doctor began after a moment of silence, clapping his hand together as he looked back and forth between Amy and Rory, "You know us, we don't just abandon people when they leave the TARDIS. _This_ Time Lord's for life," he smiled at them, "You don't just get rid of your old pal's the Doctor and the Hatter so easily".

"Which I'm sure can be quite annoying to many people," the Hatter added, sounding amused just thinking about how many people out there would love for her and the Doctor to simply disappear forever.

"Hmm…" Amy hummed, nodding as she glanced at them, breaking into a small smile, "You came here by mistake, didn't you?"

His smile faded, turning sheepish, "Yeah, bit of a mistake," he admitted.

The Time Lady smiled apologetically at Amy and Rory, "We were supposed to be having tea with Leonardo da Vinci," she informed them quietly before shrugging, her smile turning brighter, "But never mind that!"

"Exactly!" the Doctor said quickly, nodding along with her, "Look, what a result…" he looked around, trying to think of something to fill the silence, "Look at this bench," he pointed across to the benches armrest on the other side of Amy, "What a nice bench," he continued awkwardly, "What will they think of next?"

"Seriously?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, shaking her head, "You went with the bench?"

He blushed and shifted as much as he could with the blonde on his lap, "I…panicked," he muttered, making her laugh. He cleared his throat as he cast his eyes back around the village, "So…what do you do around here to starve off the…" he glanced at Amy and Rory, "You know…"

"Boredom?" Amy suggested.

"Self-harm," he finished at the same time.

"Death," the Time Lady remarked in unison, making everyone look at her, surprised. She coughed and looked away, regretting laughing at the Doctor for talking about the bench. He might have had a good idea going there… "Did I say death?" she tried to cover her slip, sounding innocent, "I meant…" she opened and closed her mouth for a moment before sighing, "You know what? Forget it. This place is so dull I can actually feel my brain turning to soup from lack of use".

Rory eyed her for a moment, seeming unsure if he should be offended, before shaking his head, "We relax…" he told them, not seeing the Doctor mouth 'relax' to the blonde, looking as if he had never heard the word before, "We live," he continued, shrugging, "We listen to the birds…"

Birds began chirping around them as little flecks of snow also started falling.

"Yeah, see?" Amy cut in quickly, "Birds," she nodded slowly, once again seeming to be trying to come up with positive points about village life, "Those are nice…"

Rory nudged the Doctor's arm, smiling, "We didn't get time to listen to birdsong back in the TARDIS days, did we?"

The Hatter winced as the birdsong seemed to grow louder and she lifted a hand to her forehead, rubbing it painfully.

"Oh blimey…" the Doctor grimaced, grabbing his head, too, "My head's a bit…ooh…" he gave himself a sharp shake as Amy looked at him, alarmed, "Er, no, you're right," he nodded to Rory, "There wasn't a lot of time for birdsong back in the good…" his head began fall forward onto the blonde's shoulder, his eyes slowly closing, "…old…"

"Something's…wrong…" the Time Lady murmured, suddenly feeling sleepy, her head slipping sideways to rest on the Doctor's, her body growing heavy and limp.

Slowly, all four of them fell asleep on the bench with the sound of the birds chirping in there ears…

…

The Doctor woke with a start, finding himself lying on his side on the floor of the TARDIS, "Days!" he called out, blinking in confusion as he realised that he was on the floor. In fact, he couldn't seem to remember lying on the floor in the first place, let alone falling asleep, "What?" he gave himself a sharp shake and jumped onto his feet, "No, yes, sorry, what?" he sighed in relief as he caught sight of the Hatter pulling herself back onto her feet from beside the console controls, rubbing the side of her head with a confused frown with her hat sitting on an odd angle.

"What happened?" the Hatter questioned, grimacing. Apparently, when she had somehow ended up on the glass floor, she had knocked the side of her head against the edge of the console. She supposed that was what led to the extremely strange dream she had experienced…

"Oh, you're okay!" he exclaimed in relief, seeing a short haired Rory and a flat stomached Amy making their way up towards the controls, both looking very confused, "Oh, thank God! I had a terrible nightmare about you two," he told them, shaking his head as he hurried up the steps leading to the controls and over to the Hatter, pulling her into a tight hug, making her blink in even more confusion, "That was scary," he sighed, pulling back, and waving a hand around, "Don't ask. You don't want to know," he let go of the Time Lady and moved across to Amy, pulling her into a hug, "You're safe now".

Amy blinked at the sudden hug, "Oh, okay…"

"That's what counts," he clicked his fingers at Rory, pulling away from Amy, before turning back around to the controls, "Blimey, never dropped off like that before," he glanced at the Hatter, "Well, never, really," he shook his head, looking back over to the humans as he moved around the console, "We're getting on a bit, you see…"

"Doctor…" the Hatter tried to cut across him, frowning at the controls.

"Sorry, dear, but it's true," he went on, thinking that she was just going to scold him for implying that she was old, just as she always did, completely missing the worry in her voice. He ran a hand over his front, glancing back over to Amy and Rory, "Don't let the cool gear fool you".

The Time Lady sighed and grabbed his hand, "Sweetheart, look!" she pulled him around the console, gesturing to where a set of red lights were blinking back at them.

"Ooh, red flashing lights…" he frowned at the lights, exchanging a look with the blonde beside him, "I bet they mean something".

"Yes, trouble. We really need to work on your TARDIS skills, I'm shocked you haven't blown us all up trying to reverse".

"Says the woman who once flooded her bedroom after not maintaining her alert system".

The Hatter blushed and ducked her head, muttering, "I had hoped you had forgotten that…"

The Doctor kissed her cheek, flashing her a grin, "One of the few times you actually messed up something with your TARDIS?" he raised his eyebrows at her, enjoying watching her blush grow darker. She now resembled a tomato and he couldn't help but find it adorable…though, he would never tell her that, "How could I ever forget that, dear?" he winked at her before ducking down to kneel on the floor, under the controls, trying to work out just what the red lights were supposed to be warning them about.

"Er, I also had a kind of dream…thing," Rory spoke up, frowning as he watched the Time Lords.

"Yeah, so did I," Amy agreed, nodding.

"Not a nightmare, though," he said quickly, turning to the red head, "Just, er…we were married," he smiled.

The Time Lords both tensed and exchanged looks, realising that they had both experienced the same sort of dream. Of course, dream sharing among Time Lords was known to happen, the two of them had done such a thing several times without meaning to, but among humans…that wasn't quite as common, let alone for all four of them to apparently have dreamed the same dream. That was just plain…strange.

Amy frowned at Rory as the Doctor stood, eyeing the two of them, "Yeah, a little village".

"A sweet little village, and you were pregnant".

"Yes, I was huge! I was a _boat_ ".

The Doctor slowly walked over to Rory and tugged the back of his hoodie, checking to make sure that there wasn't a ponytail hidden, while the Hatter frowned, trying to figure out what was going on. First the strange shared dream and now the TARDIS was acting up?

"So you had the same dream, then?" Rory questioned, frowning at Amy, not paying the Doctor any attention, " _Exactly_ the same dream?"

"Are you calling me a boat?" Amy narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, stepping closer to him.

"Entering dangerous waters, Rory!" the Time Lady called over to him, looking amused by Amy's reaction, "I would choose your next words carefully".

Rory cleared his throat, "And Doctor," he quickly turned to him, taking the Hatter's advice, "You and the Hatter were visiting".

The Doctor, frowning, stepped closer to Amy and flipped her jacket open, checking to make sure that there wasn't a baby bump hidden.

"Yeah, yeah," Amy nodded, turning to him, glancing over towards the blonde, "You two came to our cottage".

"How can we have the same dream?" Rory asked, shaking his head in confusion as the Hatter stepped around the console to join them, looking troubled, "It doesn't make sense".

"And you had a nightmare about… _us_ ," the red head remembered, glancing at Rory, before eyeing the Doctor, "What happened to us in the nightmare?"

The Doctor looked back and forth between them, "It was a bit similar, in some aspects," he informed them quietly.

"What aspects?" Rory frowned at him.

"Ah…" the Hatter winced slightly, casting the Doctor a look, who at least looked a little embarrassed, "Pretty much all aspects".

Amy's eyes widened, looking between the Time Lords, "You had the same dream," she realised.

"Basically," the Doctor agreed.

Rory narrowed his eyes at him, "You said it was a nightmare," he reminded him, his tone accusing.

"Did I say nightmare?" he asked, quickly trying to cover up his little slip, "No, more of a really good…" he struggled for a moment to come up with the right word, "…mare".

"But that's beside the point," the Hatter quickly cut in, trying to make her voice sound bright and cheerful, noticing the glare that Rory was giving the Doctor, "This sort of thing can happen sometimes," she tried to assure them, "I've experienced it once before in the past, just a strange psychic episode," she glanced back to the console, trying to keep the doubt she felt out of her voice, "We probably jumped a time track or something like that".

"Yeah, exactly," the Doctor said, nodding along with her, "Forget it," he clapped his hands together, moving over to the controls, just as the sound of birds chirping sounded, making the Hatter, Amy, and Rory look up, "We're back to reality now".

"Doctor," Amy looked around worriedly, the sound of the birds growing louder, "If we're back to reality, how come I can still hear birds?"

"Yeah, the same birds," Rory nodded, also looking around, "The same ones we heard in the…"

…

The four of them all woke up, startled to find themselves sitting back on the park bench in Upper Leadworth. The Hatter slipped off the Doctor's lap and landed on the ground, yelping in surprise and pain as the Doctor and Rory found themselves leaning in towards each other, their foreheads touching, while Amy had slipped sideways on the bench, and quickly straightened herself.

"…dream," Rory quickly pulled away from the Doctor, looking embarrassed, "Oh!" he gave himself a sharp shake, "Sorry, nodded off. Stupid. God, I must be over doing it," he sighed as the Time Lady pulled herself back onto her feet, attempting to pretend as if she hadn't fallen off the Doctor's lap in the first place, feeling her cheeks heating up, "I was dreaming we were back on the TARDIS," he shook his head as the Doctor grabbed his bracers, eyeing it before letting it ping back into place, and standing. Rory looked over to Amy, his face falling as he caught her expression, "You had the same dream, didn't you?"

Amy nodded, wide eyed as she grabbed her stomach, "Back in the TARDIS," she frowned, glancing over to the Time Lords as they moved over towards the road, looking around carefully, "Weren't we just saying the same thing?"

"But we thought this was the dream, didn't we?"

The Hatter knelt down beside the road, picking up a handful of stones, and began examining them closely, while the Doctor picked up one, holding it up closely to his face, before dropping it.

"I think so," Amy huffed slightly as she struggled to stand, "Why do dreams have to fade so quickly?"

Rory stepped over to the Time Lords, "What is going on?" he questioned, looking around in confusion.

"Is this because of you two?" the red head asked, moving over to them, eyeing them suspiciously, "Is this some Time Lordy thing because you've shown up again?"

"Listen to us," the Doctor slowly began to turn on the spot, his eyes flying around, "Trust _nothing_. From now on, trust nothing you see, hear, or feel".

"But we're awake now," Rory tried to argue, shaking his head at them.

The Hatter turned to him, raising an eyebrow at him, "Are you sure about that?" she took a step closer to him and Amy, trying to make them understand just how important it was that they kept their minds open to every possibility, "Absolutely positive? Because we all thought that we were awake on the TARDIS, too, remember?"

Amy frowned deeply, looking around as they stepped further onto the road, "But we're home".

"Yeah, you're home," the Doctor agreed, nodding to her, "You're _also_ dreaming".

"The main question is, Amy, Rory, which is it?" the Time Lady added, spinning on the spot, her eyes flying around, trying to take in everything in the hopes of seeing something that didn't make sense…well, aside from everything, that is.

"Are we flashing forward…or backwards?" he continued, grabbing the blonde's hand as they stepped passed the humans, looking back down the lane they had first walked down, "Hold on tight. This is going to be a tricky one".

….

Amy awake with a gasp as the TARDIS jolted to find herself slouched in one of the console jump seats, Rory was across from her on a similar seat, also blinking awake in alarm, while the Time Lords jumped up from where they had woken up lying on the stairs and ran over to the controls. The Doctor grabbed a lever, trying to pull it, but it wouldn't budge as the Hatter hurried around the controls, flicking switches as she went, trying to make the time machine steady.

"Oh, this is bad," the Doctor groaned, scrunching up his face as he struggled with the lever, "I don't like this!" he stepped away from the controls and turned back around, suddenly kicking the lever, managing to dislodge it with a cry of pain, but at least the TARDIS stilled, "Argh!"

"Sweetheart!" the Hatter exclaimed, running around to his side, trying to help him steady himself as he jumped on the spot, holding his leg painfully, "Don't kick the old girl!" she scolded him, shaking her head, "You won't fix this mess by kicking her, you'll only make her grumpy with you".

"Never use force," he grumbled loudly, leaning on the Time Lady for support as he rubbed his leg, "You just embarrass yourself. Unless you're cross, in which case…" he glared at the console, "Always use force".

The Time Lady raised her eyebrows at him, "Finished, sweetheart?"

He huffed slightly, looking sulky as he hobbled over to one of jump seats and sank down onto it, rubbing his leg, "Yes, dear".

She smiled, trying hard not to laugh as she ruffled his hair affectionately. He looked like a child who didn't get what he wanted and she found it quite amusing, just as long as he didn't kick the console again. She shook her head and began to head down the stairs leading under the console.

Amy looked over the railing, watching the Time Lady, "Shall I run and get the manual?" she offered.

"Ask that idiot," the Hatter called back up to her, rolling her eyes as she continued down the stairs.

She turned to the Doctor, who sighed, "I threw it in a supernova," he told her.

"You threw the manual in a supernova?" Amy closed her eyes, exasperated, "Why?"

"Because I disagreed with it," he replied, waving a finger at her as the Hatter's laughter sounded from under the console, "Don't talk to me when I'm cross!" he added childishly.

"Okay…" Rory held up his hands as the Hatter began examining the wires and cables under the console, sighing slightly when she found everything to be in working order, "But whatever's wrong with the TARDIS, is that what caused us to dream about the future?" he asked.

"What's to say that we have been dreaming of the future?" the Hatter resorted, jogging back up the stairs and up to the main console area, moving to stand beside the Doctor, "We don't know that it's the future for sure".

Amy frowned at them, "Well, of course we were," she replied, rolling her eyes at them, "We were in Leadworth".

" _Upper_ Leadworth," Rory corrected quickly, making her give him a look.

"Yeah, and we could still be in Upper Leadworth, dreaming of this," the Doctor pointed out, frowning at them as he stood, reaching inside his pocket, and withdrawing a banana, a yo-yo, and a ball of string, handing the banana to Amy as he passed her, the string to Rory, and the yo-yo to the Time Lady as he moved around the console, "Don't you get it?" he sighed.

"No, okay?" Amy shook her head, waving the banana in her hand around at him, "No, this is real," she insisted, "I'm definitely awake now".

He turned back to her, "And you thought you were definitely awake when you were all…" he held out his arms as the Hatter narrowed her eyes at him, "Elephanty".

"Hey!" she snapped, pointing the banana threateningly at him, " _Pregnant_ ".

"Watch it, Doctor," the Hatter added, giving him a sharp look as she absently toyed with the yo-yo, "Women don't take kindly to being called 'elephant,' especially while pregnant. Do try to remember just how scary hormonal women can be, otherwise you'll end getting slapped".

"I was just trying to say…" he sighed, holding up his hands, backing away slightly from both woman with a nervous look, "That you could be giving birth right now," he nodded to Amy, "This could be the dream," he looked back and forth between Amy and Rory, pointing at them, "We told you, trust nothing we see or hear or feel".

The Time Lady nodded along with him, "Look at everything around you," she continued, holding up the yo-yo in her hands, eyeing it closely as Amy and Rory did the same thing with their objects, "Examine everything, and take it all in for any detail that seems wrong".

The Doctor frowned and grabbed the banana and the ball of string back off Amy and Rory, looking down at the objects, before shaking his head. He didn't bother getting the yo-yo back, knowing that the Time Lady would find it amusing playing with it.

"Okay," Rory began, casting his eyes around the room as the Time Lords stepped over to the controls, "We're in a spaceship that's bigger on the inside than the outside".

"With two bow tie wearing aliens," Amy remarked, giving the Time Lords pointed looks.

The Time Lords exchanged looks, sighing slightly, seeing that there attempt to make them try and look at everything around them hadn't quite worked.

"So maybe what 'seems wrong' isn't so simple," Rory finished, making quotation marks in the air as he spoke.

The Hatter tilted her head at them, glancing at the Doctor, "Well, they do have a good point," she admitted.

Suddenly, the TARDIS powered down and all the lights turned off, leaving them in complete darkness, save for the green and blue light coming off the Time Rotor. They all froze, staring around with wide eyes.

"It's dead," the Doctor breathed, his voice echoing throughout the room as he stared up at the Time Rotor, taking the Time Lady's hand, "We're in a dead time machine".

The Time Lady swallowed, reaching out with her free hand to place it on the Time Rotor. It was so wrong not to feel the gentle hum under her finger tips and she was struck by a wave of sadness. This TARDIS might not have been hers, but she had fallen in love with it, and she knew how much it meant the Doctor, "Why does this always happen?" she groaned, shaking her head.

Birds began chirping and the room started growing even darker. Rory wrapped his arms around Amy, holding her tightly to him.

"Remember, this is real," the Doctor looked over to them, his voice firm as he held the Hatter's hand tighter, "But when we wake up in the other place, remember how real this feels".

"It's is real," Amy nodded quickly, sounding positive, "I know it's real".

…

The church clock chimed a short distance down the road as Amy and Rory awake to find themselves sitting on a park bench outside the village library, while the Doctor and the Hatter stood in the middle of the road, watching as a school teacher led a group of kids passed them.

"Okay," Amy sighed heavily, taking a moment to look around, her hands resting on her stomach, "This is the real one, definitely _this_ one," she nodded, looking down, and eyeing her stomach, "It's all solid".

"But so did everything in the TARDIS," the Hatter reminded them, turning back towards them as Rory stood, "Everything felt normal and solid there".

The Doctor nodded along with her, "You can't spot a dream while you're having it," he agreed, bringing his fingers up to his face, wiggling them around.

Rory stepped closer to them, looking at the Doctor oddly as Amy struggled back onto her feet, "Ah, what are you doing?" he asked him.

"Looking for motion blur, pixilation," he replied, shrugging as he continued to wiggle his fingers around, before dropping his hand back to his side, casting his eyes around the village once more, "It could be a computer simulation".

The Hatter jumped on the spot and did a funny little twirl, before standing still, "No, I don't think so," she shook her head, frowning, "The gravity feels right for Earth, so does the air pressure," she stuck out her tongue and inhaled deeply, "Rain later, expect a bit of wind and drizzle tomorrow. It feels just a little too realistic to be a computer simulation".

An old woman approached them, smiling at them as Rory returned to the smile, "Hello, doctor," she greeted, before walking past them.

"Hi," the Doctor nodded to her, a little surprised.

"Hello," Rory waved at her happily.

"Lovely hat," the Time Lady called after the woman, eyeing the woman's light purple beret with an approving look. She used to wear one quite similar, only it had been red during her Fifth regeneration.

The woman paused and looked back to them, casting the Doctor a strange look, before flashing the Hatter a smile, and continuing on her way.

The Doctor turned back to Rory, eyeing him thoughtfully, "You're a doctor".

"Really?" the Hatter asked brightly, her eyes lighting up in delight as she turned to Rory, thrilled that he had accomplished his aspiration to become a doctor. She had even offered to help him with his studies, but apparently, if this wasn't the dream after all, he hadn't needed any help. She grinned at him, "Oh, that's wonderful, Rory. Well done".

"Yeah," Rory nodded, smiling before he pointed to the Doctor, "And unlike you, I've actually passed some exams".

"A doctor, not a nurse," the Doctor went on thoughtfully, turning and beginning to walk off down the road, taking the Hatter's hand, "Just like you've always dreamed," he narrowed his eyes slightly, "How _interesting_ ".

He frowned at his back as he and Amy followed after them, "What is?" he questioned.

"Your dream wife, your dream job, probably your dream baby. Maybe this is your dream".

"It's Amy's dream, too," he tried to argue as they came to a stop outside a row of cottages, "Isn't it, Amy?" he glanced at her.

"Yes," Amy said a little too quickly, smiling tensely. The Time Lords exchanged a look, catching her less than happy expression, "Course it is, yeah," she laughed awkwardly.

"Right…" the Hatter nodded slowly, watching Amy for a moment, feeling saddened that while Rory seemed to be happy with village life, Amy seemed as if she was just pretending to. She shook her head, making a mental note to talk to Amy about it later, and glanced over her shoulder, "What is that building?"

They turned to focus there attention on the row of cottages.

The red head shrugged, "Old people's home," she told them.

The Time Lords exchanged a look as they noticed several residents peeking out through the windows, staring at them, just like the old woman that the Hatter had noticed watching them earlier. The Time Lady shivered as she eyed them, feeling the uneasy feeling wash over her again, this time even stronger than before.

"Somethings not right about this place," the Time Lady muttered to the others, frowning deeply as she eyed the building, "You mentioned that everyone lives into their nineties here, but I don't care how good the health care might be in this place, because just how likely is it that an entire village will live into their nineties like that?"

"There's something here that doesn't make sense," the Doctor agreed, the corner of his mouth twitching as he looked at the blonde, "Let's go and poke it with a stick".

The Hatter broke into a grin as she and the Doctor raced over towards the entrance to the home. Rory sighed loudly, glancing at Amy, before following after them.

"Oh," Amy groaned, putting her hands on her hips, staring after them, "Can we not do the running thing?"

They darted through the entrance and calmly walked through a door and into a lounge area where it seemed that most of the residents were sitting, relaxing in chairs scattered around the space. The Time Lords exchanged frowns, casting their eyes around the space, sensing something…very off about the place, mainly the residents.

"Oh, hello, Doctor Williams," one of the residents, a woman, called in greeting as they entered.

Another woman looked up from her knitting, smiling brightly at Rory, "Hello, Rory, love".

Rory smiled around at them all and stepped over to the woman with her knitting, "Hello, Mrs Poggit," he cheerfully greeted her, "How's your hip?"

"A bit stiff," the woman answered.

"Oh, easy," the Doctor cut in brightly, moving over towards the woman, "D-96 compound, plus…"

"Sweetheart!" the Hatter said sharply, grabbing his hand, giving him a pointed look before he could end up saying anything else, "They don't have that yet, remember?"

He winced, "Right, sorry," he nodded, giving Amy and Rory a quick look, "Forget that".

Mrs Poggit looked curiously at the Time Lords, "Who's your friends?" she asked, looking back to Rory, "Junior doctors?"

Rory glanced at the Time Lords, eyeing them for a moment, "Yes," he nodded, a smug smile crossing his face.

"Goodness, it's been a long time since I was called a 'junior' anything," the Hatter remarked quietly so that only the Doctor could hear, sounding highly amused.

"Can I borrow you?" Mrs Poggit turned to the Doctor, sitting her knitting needles down, and reaching for what appeared to be a half made jumper, "You're the size of my grandson".

The Doctor hesitated slightly before moving forward and kneeling on the ground before the woman's chair, letting her pull the jumper over his head, "Slightly keen to move on," he sighed, slipping his arm through the jumpers arm, "Freak psychic schism to sort out," he suddenly leaned forward, forcing the woman back into her chair, eyeing her closely, "You're incredibly old, aren't you?"

All the residents stared at him as the Hatter frowned, watching Mrs Poggit reaction, only to find that she didn't seem the slightest bit alarmed by the Doctor, more…curious, then anything. Suddenly, the sound of the birds chirping sounded, making the four of them blink sleepily, staggering as they all fell onto the floor, asleep…

…

They all woke up to find themselves leaning against the darkened console. The Hatter sighed in annoyance as she reached down to pick up her hat from the floor, haven fallen off, along with the yo-yo.

"Okay, I hate this," Amy groaned, turning to the Time Lords as they began fiddling with something on the controls, "Stop it, because _this_ is definitely real," she insisted as the Doctor grabbed a torch and hurried over to the stairs leading to the upper level of the console, "It's definitely this one," she huffed angrily at herself, turning to Rory, "I keep saying that, don't I?"

Rory wrapped his arms around himself, grimacing, "It's bloody cold," he added.

The Hatter tilted her head, looking up to the upper level as the Doctor disappeared from sight, "Let me guess, the heating's off?" she called up to him, a hint of sarcasm entering her voice.

"The heating's off?" Rory repeated, sighing heavily.

"Yeah," the Doctor called back, appearing once more as he stepped onto the small balcony that over looked the main console area, looking over the ledge to them, "Put on a jumper. That's what I always do," he shrugged, turning his torch on and ducking below the ledge to check something.

"Well, at least in one dream you have a jumper on," the Time Lady remarked, sounding amused just thinking about the Doctor in that half knitted jumper. She was positive she had seen a picture of a little dogs on the front of it, too.

"Er, yes," Rory began, leaning against the console, "Sorry about Mrs Poggit. She's so lovely, though," he finished, smiling fondly thinking about the old lady.

The Doctor looked back over to them through a small, rounded gap in the ledge, exchanging a dark look with the Hatter, "I wouldn't believe her nice lady act if I were you," he warned quietly.

Amy frowned at him, glancing at the blonde, her arms crossed, "What do you mean, 'act?'"

"Everything's off," he continued, ignoring Amy's question as he stood, casting his eyes around the room, "Sensors, core power…we're drifting," he turned and began to make his way back down the stairs towards them.

The Hatter sighed as she stepped back over to the controls, running her hands over them, "And the scanners are down, which means that we can't look out and see where we are, either," she added grimly, glancing over to Amy and Rory, who were starting to shiver from the cold. It wasn't quite as bad for her or the Doctor as it was for the humans, but even they would start feeling the chill soon enough, "We could be anywhere and any when right now," she shook her head.

The Doctor moved back down the stairs and across to the Time Lady, looking frustrated and annoyed, "Someone, something, is overriding my…our controls," he waved his hands around.

"Well, that took a while," they all jumped and whirled around to find a short man with a receding hairline standing before them on top of the stairs that the Doctor had just stepped down from, dressed in a tweed blazer, a striped shirt, and a large red bowtie. They stared at him, startled and confused by his sudden appearance as he began to walk down the steps, "Honestly, I heard such good things," the man continued, looking at the Time Lords as he spoke, "Last of the Time Lords, the Oncoming Storm and his clever wife…" the Doctor narrowed his eyes at the mention of the Hatter, "Him in the bow tie, her in the hat…"

"How did you get into our…my TARDIS?" the Doctor demanded, correcting himself at the look the Hatter gave him. He eyed the man as he stepped down from the steps, "What are you?"

The man ignored him and turned to the Hatter, raising his eyebrows at her, "Haven't you worked it out yet, dear?" he asked her, almost seeming disappointed when the Hatter tilted her head at him, frowning, "Oh, I thought for sure that you would have worked it out by now, but then again…" his eyes drifted across to rest on the Doctor, "Spending all day around him can't help".

The Hatter crossed her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes at the man, "Who and what are you?" she questioned, trying to hid just how uneasy he made her feel.

"What shall we call me?" the man wondered aloud, looking back and forth between the Time Lords, "Well, if you're Time Lords, let's call me the Dream Lord".

The Doctor looked him up and down, "Nice look," he remarked, nodding to his clothing, taking note of just how much it resembled his own style of dress.

"This?" he raised his eyebrows, looking down his front, shaking his head, "No, I'm not convinced. Bow ties?" his eyes came to rest on the Hatter and something in the look that crossed his face made the Time Lady want to move closer to the Doctor, not liking the way he seemed to look straight through her, "Though, on you, it does look good…"

The Time Lady struggled to hold back a cringe she held up her yo-yo and allowed it to shoot at the man, but instead of hitting him in his chest, it simply went straight through, making his image flicker.

"Well, that would have been embarrassing," she commented softly, reeling the yo-yo back to her hand, glancing at the Doctor beside her, "Still, interesting".

The Dream Lord smirked at her, "Ah, finally, a glimpse of those clever brains starting to work," he said, giving her a mocking bow, throwing the Doctor a dark look, "You're wasted on him".

The Hatter stepped towards him, her anger flaring, but the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her back. Not that she could actually do anything, like slap the Dream Lord as she was quite tempted to do after his remark about the Doctor, but that didn't stop her from wanting to. She had heard enough remarks like that one concerning the Doctor throughout her life, and she hated it because they simply weren't true, not in the slightest.

"And there's that temper!" the Dream Lord almost seemed to cheer her own, apparently enjoying himself, before he shook his head, turning serious as he focused on the Doctor, "I'd love to be impressed, but Dream Lord?" he raised his eyebrows at them, "It's in the name, isn't it? Spooky. Not quite there…" he suddenly appeared behind them, making Amy gasp loudly in surprise as they spun around to face him, "And yet, very much here," he finished.

"I'll do the talking, thank you," the Doctor cut in sharply, moving passed Amy and Rory to stand in front of the Dream Lord, not the slightest bit pleased by the way the man seemed to keep focusing on the Hatter, upsetting her. Time for a different approach, "Amy," he glanced back to the red head over his shoulder, "Want to take a guess at what that is?"

"Um…" Amy began, frowning, "Dream Lord. He creates dreams".

"Dreams," he nodded, eyeing the Dream Lord carefully, "Delusions, cheap tricks…"

"And what about the gooseberry, here?" the Dream Lord cut in, nodding over to Rory, raising his eyebrows, "Does he get a guess?"

"Er, listen, mate," Rory cast the Dream Lord a deep frown as Amy and the Doctor exchanged a small look, the Hatter nudged the Doctor's side sharply, "If anyone's the gooseberry round here, it's the Doctor".

The Dream Lord shook his head, almost looking amused, "Well now, there's a delusion I'm not responsible for".

"No, he is," he insisted, turning to Amy, "Isn't he, Amy?" he asked, a flicker of worry crossing his face briefly.

"Oh, Amy, have to sort your men out," the Dream Lord turned to her, smirking as Amy's eyes flickered back and forth between the Doctor and Rory, seeming slightly nerves, " _Choose_ , even".

"I have chosen," Amy said quickly, glancing at the Hatter, who inwardly sighed. This was the very thing that the Time Lady had told her she would have to do one day, she just didn't expect that it would happen quite so soon, "Of course I've chosen…" her gaze remained fixed on the Dream Lord as she lightly smacked Rory's chest, "It's you, stupid".

Rory almost seemed to sigh in relief, nodding quickly, "Oh, good, thanks".

The Dream Lord suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind them, smirking widely at Amy as they all spun around to face him, "You can't fool me," he remarked, almost mockingly, "I've seen your dreams. Some of them _twice_ , Amy," Amy paled slightly, her mouth falling open fearfully as Rory glanced at her, "Blimey, I'd blush…if I had a blood supply or a real face," he shrugged.

"Well, we can hardly control what we dream," the Hatter remarked, crossing her arms across her chest as she eyed the Dream Lord, trying to distract him from Amy. The last they needed was to end up getting into a fight, "Unlike you, of course," she added, inclining her head towards him.

The Doctor stepped closer to the Dream Lord, "Where did you pick up this cheap cabaret act?" he questioned.

"Me?" the Dream Lord raised his eyebrows at him, looking him up and down, "Oh, you're on shaky ground?"

"Am I?"

"If you had any more tawdry quirks you could open up a Tawdry Quirk Shop," he responded, glaring at the Doctor, "The madcap vehicle, the cockamamie hair, the clothes designed by a first-year fashion student…" the Doctor glanced back to the others and the Hatter stepped forward, grabbing his hand, holding it tightly, "…I'm surprised you haven't got a little purple space dog just to ram home what an intergalactic wag you are. I'm shocked she ever agreed to marry _you_ ," he nodded to the Hatter, taking a deep breath, before pausing, "Where was I?"

"You were…" Rory began.

The Dream Lord suddenly appeared on the upper level, looking down at them over the ledge of the balcony, "I _know_ where I was," he cut across him sharply, making them all jump and spin around to face him, "So, here's your challenge. Two worlds," he started to explain, "Here, in the time machine, and there, in the village that time forgot. One is real, the other's fake," the Hatter frowned thoughtfully, "And just to make it more interesting, you're going to face in both worlds a deadly danger, but only one of the dangers is real," he smirked at them, "Tweet, tweet. Time to sleep".

The sound of the birds chirping started again and they stumbled around, struggling to keep their eyes open as they collapsed onto the floor.

"Oh," he commented, sounding as if the thought had only just occurred to him as he watched them trying to stay awake, "Or are you waking up?"

The Time Lords desperately tried to stay awake as Amy and Rory both slipped asleep. They grasped onto the console, trying to keep themselves standing, but it was no use as they both slipped onto the floor. The last thing the saw was the Dream Lord's smirk as they fell asleep.

…

They all gasped awake to find themselves lying on the floor of the lounge, only to find that the room was completely empty, all the residents now gone. The Doctor stood quickly and helped the Hatter stand, while Amy and Rory climbed back onto their feet, just as the Dream Lord entered.

He had changed his clothes and now wore a black suit with a navy blue tie, a pair of glasses, and was holding an X-ray, "Oh, this is bad," he announced to them, frowning thoughtfully at the X-ray as the Time Lords eyed him carefully, "This is very, very bad. Look at this X-ray…" he held it up to the light for them to see, turning to the Doctor, "Your brain is completely see through. But then, I've always been able to see through you, Doctor," he smirked.

"Always?" Amy stepped forward, eyeing the Dream Lord, "What do you mean, 'always?'" she asked.

"Now then, the prognosis is this," the Dream Lord ignored her question, looking at the Doctor as he sat in Mrs Poggit's chair, the Time Lady sat on the armrest, "If you die in the dream, you wake up in reality," he informed them, "Healthy recovery in next to no time," he turned to Amy and Rory, "Ask me what happens if you die in reality?"

"What happens?" Rory questioned.

"You die, stupid. That's why it's called _reality_ ".

Amy eyed the Dream Lord curiously, "Have you met the Doctor before?" she nodded over to the Doctor, seeming less fearful and more interested, "Do you know him?" she glanced over to the Doctor, "Doctor, does he?"

"Now don't get jealous," the Dream Lord told her, smirking, "He's been around, our boy. But never mind that," he shook his head, turning slightly more serious, "You've got a world to choose," he turned to the Doctor, "One reality was never too much for you, Doctor. Take two and call me in the morning".

And with that, he vanished.

Rory held up his hands, looking over to the Time Lords, "Okay, I don't like him," he remarked.

"Join the club," the Hatter muttered, shivering slightly. The Doctor put a hand on her leg and gave her a small, comforting smile.

Amy crossed her arms across her chest and turned to the Time Lords, narrowing her eyes, "Who is he?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, shrugging slightly, "It's a big Universe".

"Hatter?" she looked to the blonde, expectantly.

"Haven't got a clue," the Time Lady answered, frowning, "There's something about him that I feel like I should recognise…" she paused, thinking deeply, before shaking her head when nothing came to her, "I just can't put my finger on it yet".

"Why is he doing this?"

"Maybe it's because he has no physical form," the Doctor suggested, not appearing to be overly convinced by the theory, "That gets you down after a while, so he's taking it out on folk like us…" he looked down his front and frowned, realising he was still wearing the half-finished jumper, and stood, still talking, "…who can touch and eat and feel," he continued, pulling the jumper over his head and tossing it away.

"What does he mean, 'deadly danger,' though?" Rory questioned, frowning in confusion as the Time Lords looked around the room, eyeing the empty seats, "Nothing deadly has happened here," he paused, shrugging, "I mean, I a bit of natural wastage, obviously…"

"Where have they all gone?" the Hatter stood from the armrest, slowly turning on the spot as she looked around the room, "All the old people, they've just simply…gone," she turned back to the others, looking very troubled, "That's not right, not right at all".

The Doctor cast his eyes around room, too, before exchanging a look with the blonde, and grabbing her hand. They darted out of the room, Amy and Rory following behind them as they threw open the front door and stepped out, looking around. Across the road, there was a park area with a small playground beside a large ruin that appeared to have once been a church. A group of school kids and their teacher were beginning to make their way over to a set of stairs that led up into the ruin.

"Why would they leave?" Rory asked as he stepped outside the home, frowning at the Time Lords backs.

Amy closed the door behind them, "And what did you mean about Mrs Poggit's nice old lady act?"

They began to make their way across the road and over towards the playground, but the Doctor paused, looking back to the red head, "One of my tawdry quirks," he remarked, recalling the Dreams Lords little jab, "One that the Hatter and I share," he flashed the Time Lady a grin as she returned it, "Sniffing out things that aren't what they seem".

"And quite a useful quirk at that," the Hatter added brightly, nudging his side playfully.

He kissed her cheek quickly before forcing himself to turn serious, "So, come on, let's think," he turned back to Amy and Rory, clapping his hands together, "The mechanics of this reality split we're stuck in".

The Time Lady nodded along with him, growing serious, also, "Well, unlike normal dreams, during this one the time that we spend asleep matches exactly the time in our dream world," she said slowly, looking thoughtful.

"And we're all dreaming the _same_ dream at the _same_ time," Rory commented, trying to follow along.

"Yes, sort of communal trance," the Doctor explained, exchanging a quick look with the blonde, "Very rare, very complicated," he sighed, frowning as he looked around the park, "I'm sure there's a dream giveaway, a tell, but my mind isn't working because this village is _so_ dull!" he suddenly shouted up towards the sky, waving his hands around in frustration as the Hatter struggled to hold back a laugh. He turned back to Amy and Rory, lowering his voice back to normal level, "We're slowing down, like you two have," he told them.

Amy suddenly gasped and grabbed her stomach, "Oh!" they spun back around to see her wide eyed, her breathing growing heavier, "Ow, really," she looked at Rory, who almost began jumping on the spot in his panic and excitement, "Ow!" she started screaming as they all gathered around her, "It's coming!"

The Hatter hurried forward and wrapped her arm around Amy, trying to give her some extra support as the Doctor and Rory simply stood there, wide eyed with panic and growing steadily paler the more that Amy gasped and panted.

"Okay, okay," the Doctor swallowed hard, his voice filled with panic as he turned to Rory. It took every ounce of the Hatter's self-control not to burst out laughing at just how terrified he looked as Amy gave her a small wink while the men looked away, "You're a doctor, help her!" he frantically said.

"You're a doctor!" Rory exclaimed, his head snapping around to look at him.

"Technically, he never passed his exam," the Time Lady called over there panicked cries, struggling to hold back her amusement, "But that's beside the point," she shook her head, "You're both doctors, even if ones given himself the name".

The Doctor turned back to Amy as she screamed again, "It's okay, we're doctors," he squatted down before Amy, holding out his hands towards her, as if the baby was just going to come flying out and he would catch it, "What do we do?" he asked.

The Hatter groaned, but luckily it was covered up by Amy's loud breathing, and pinched the bridge of her nose is exasperated, "You have got to be kidding…" she muttered, trying to work out just how she ended up marrying a complete idiot, even if he was a sweetheart.

Amy suddenly stopped panicking and gasping, "Okay, it's not coming," she said calmly, straightening.

Both men stared at her, stunned as the Doctor stood, "What?" he demanded, looking extremely confused.

She stepped closer to them, narrowing her eyes dangerously at the Doctor, " _This_ is my life now and it just turned you white as a sheet, so don't you call it dull again, _ever_. Okay?"

He opened and closed his mouth, glancing at the Hatter, and back to Amy, "Sorry".

"Yeah."

"Brilliantly done," the Hatter laughed, high fiving with Amy, who grinned broadly, "It's been a while since I last saw the Doctor panic so much, I thought he was going to faint for a second there".

"You knew?" the Doctor exclaimed, turning to her as Amy and Rory walked away, heading over towards the playground, "And I don't faint!" he added quickly.

She only laughed harder and reached up to pat his cheek lightly, "Amy was kind enough to let me in on the joke," she informed him, smirking, "And of course you do, remember when you fainted during that biology class we had when we did that term on dissection?"

"I didn't faint, I just…got a little light headed".

"You were out cold for twenty minutes! The Master and I had to carry you to the nurse's office, which was no easy feat, since it was on the other side of the school and a floor below. It probably didn't help matters that the Master dropped you while we were walking down the stairs, claiming that your leg had 'moved un-expectantly and surprised him'".

The Doctor's eyes widened and he gasped, pointing at her, "That's how I got that bruise on leg!" he exclaimed in realisation, "You two told me I must have got it another time!"

The Hatter winced slightly, giving him a sheepish look, "Ah, yes, that," she said slowly, shifting on the spot, "Well, we knew that you would never let us forget it if we told you the truth. You would have tried to guilt trip me into carrying your bag around…"

"No, I wouldn't have," he shook his head quickly, a small smile crossing his face, "That was around the time I first developed feelings for you, I would have carried my bag even if I had broken both my arms just to try and impress you".

She stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing, grabbing his hand, "That just goes to prove that you haven't changed," she remarked, reaching up to kiss his cheek, "I seem to recall you blowing up a chicken trying to impress me during our time in 1969".

He sighed slightly, "Why is it that you always find me in embarrassing situations, dear?"

She grinned cheekily at him, "It's called being my best friend, not to mention my husband".

"Ah," he nodded, breaking into his own smile, "That explains a lot".

They laughed, but there laughter quickly died as they noticed Mrs Poggit slowly making her way over towards the stairs leading up into the ruins, following after the group of school kids and their teacher. They frowned at her for a moment before deciding that they had better catch up to Amy and Rory, hurrying after the couple as Amy reached the swings, sitting down on one with a huff. The Doctor moved to take the second swing but paused, making a sweeping gesture to the Time Lady to take it instead, knowing how much she loved swings.

The Time Lady flashed him a broad smile and happily took the swing, sitting down and lightly swinging back and forth on it, while Rory moved to stand behind Amy, and the Doctor leaned against one of the poles. He watched the Hatter with a fond smile for a moment before shaking his head, turning to Amy and Rory, "Now, we all know there's an elephant in the room…" he began.

"I have to be this size, I'm having a baby," Amy snapped at him, throwing him a glare.

"No, no," he shook his head, glancing at the Hatter, who looked amused, "The hormones seem real, but no. Is nobody going to mention Rory's ponytail?" he started smiling as he looked over to Rory, who sighed heavily and Amy laughed. He looked over to the Hatter, raising his eyebrows at her as she struggled to hold back a laugh, "You hold him down, I'll cut it off?" he mimed cutting something.

"This from the man in the bow tie?" Rory commented, scoffing slightly.

"Oi!" the Hatter called, pointing at him firmly, the other hand reaching up to adjust her own bowtie, "Don't knock the bow tie".

"Yeah, bow ties are cool," the Doctor added proudly, reaching over to high five with the Time Lady, while Amy and Rory exchanged a look, more then used to listening to the two of them talking about their love of bow ties and hats.

The Time Lady's eyes drifted across the playground and over to the edge of the ruins where Mrs Poggit was standing on top of the stairs leading up to it, "You know, I don't think I would be leaving my kids in the care of Mrs Poggit," she commented grimly, eyeing the old lady, taking note of the way that the woman seemed to be watching the school kids playing with a cold look on her face.

The Doctor stood and stepped away from the swings, frowning at the old woman, "What's she doing?" he wondered aloud, "What does she want?"

The sound of the birds chirping started again, making them blink sleepily.

"Oh, no," Amy sighed heavily, "Here we go".

…

The Doctor and the Hatter stood at the console, fiddling with slowly frosting controls, just trying to get something, anything to work as Amy and Rory joined them, rubbing their arms, trying to stay warm.

"It's really cold," Amy breathed, shivering as she looked to the Time Lords, "Have you got any warm clothing?"

"What does it matter if we're cold?" the Doctor suddenly snapped, whirling around to face her, allowing his frustration with what was happening get the better of him. Amy and Rory stared at him, startled, "We have to know what she is up to".

"Sweetheart," the Hatter stepped closer to him, putting a hand on his arm, looking at him worriedly, "Just take a breath, okay?" she said, trying to calm him down as he sighed, closing his eyes, "We need to stay focused if we are going to work this out, right?"

He nodded and picked up her hand from his arm, holding it tightly, "Right," he agreed tiredly, lifting his other hand up to rub his face, "Sorry," he glanced back to Amy and Rory, "Sorry".

The Time Lady eyed him for a moment before turning to Amy and Rory, giving them a small smile, "Go and check over there," she nodded over to the other side of the console room and over to a large chest that was sitting against the wall, "There ought to be some blankets in there, maybe some jumpers, I don't know".

Amy nodded and headed over to where she had directed as Rory gave the Doctor a hard look, clearly not pleased by his previous outburst, before following after Amy.

The Hatter sighed, watching them go, and turned to the Doctor, "Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked quietly, looking at him worriedly.

"Just…I don't like this," he admitted, sighing again, "I don't like any of this".

"I know, truly," she nodded, trying to give him a comforting smile. She cast her eyes around the console, frowning thoughtfully, "You know, there might just be a way to get the scanner working," she remarked slowly, "I mean, it would have to be done manually, but it's worth a shot".

"Oh!" his eyes lit up and he grabbed her shoulders suddenly, kissing her quickly, catching on, "You are a genius!"

She grinned, giving him a wink, "Well, I have been told that several times over the years, sweetheart".

He laughed, back to his usual self now that they had something productive to do. He hurried over to the side of the console and dropped down to the lower level beneath the console, bending low to avoid hitting his head as he pulled a metal cup from his pocket. He moved over to where a small box was located and reached for the handle, only for it to break off in his hands. He stared at it for a moment, making a mental note to fix it before the Hatter found out, otherwise she would only scold him.

He shook his head and put the handle on top of the box, before hitting the front, making it burst open to reveal a number of gadgets, a bit of rope, a bottle opener, and even an egg whisk. He eyed the contents and grabbed a few of the items that he knew they would need, before closing the box and grabbing the cup, making his way back up to the main console area.

The Hatter broke into a broad smile as she caught sight of what he had collected and they set to work putting it together, pulling apart some items and throwing what parts they didn't need away, while they used a bit of wire to connect the whole thing together until they were left with a long device with a small blue light attached to the cup that lit up as they turned the eggbeaters dial, and with the bottle opener attached to the top of the device. They had just began testing it to make sure that it wouldn't fall to pieces, when Amy returned with a handful of blankets, followed by Rory.

"Ah!" the Doctor called, catching sight of them, "Rory, wind…" he instructed, handing him the device.

"And Amy," the Hatter grabbed the cable that was attached to the device, holding it out to the red head, who quickly put the blankest on one of the jump seats, "Please attach this to the monitor, there's a plug on the side".

Amy nodded and grabbed the cable, hurrying over to the console to attach it to the monitor as Rory looked up from the device in his hands, "I was promised amazing worlds," he grumbled slightly, frowning, "Instead I get duff central heating and a weird, kitchen wind-up device…" he cast the device an odd look.

The Time Lady smiled slightly, looking amused by his complaints, "It's a generator," she informed him, moving around the console, "And as I told my companions numerous times throughout our travels…" she looked around the Time Rotor to him, "Stop complaining and get winding…well, obviously without the winding part, though, now that I think about it, I probably did say that at one point".

Rory sighed and began winding slowly.

"Not enough," Amy told him, looking at the monitor.

"Rory, wind," the Doctor repeated as he and the Hatter moved around to look at the monitor, too.

"Why is the Dream Lord picking on you?" Rory asked, winding faster as he looked over to the Doctor, "Why _us_?"

The monitor started flickering and they whirled around to look across the room towards it as the image came into focus, showing them the stars outside.

Amy eyed it for a moment before glancing at the Time Lords, "Where are we?"

The Time Lords exchanged grim looks, swallowing as they watched the screen as a large, bright white star came into view, and they seemed to be heading straight towards it, "We're in trouble," they breathed.

"What is that?" Rory questioned, catching sight of the star.

"It's a star," the Hatter said quietly, taking the Doctor's hand, "A cold star".

The Time Lords jogged down the stairs and over to the doors, throwing them open. A blinding white light shown through the room, followed by a gust of icy cold wind as Amy and Rory shielded their eyes, pulling their jackets closer to them as the temperature of the room dropped even more.

"That's why we're freezing!" the Doctor called back over to them over, scrunching up his face against the bright light, while the Hatter winced, trying to hold up her hand to shield her eyes, "It's not a heating malfunction. We're drifting towards a cold sun! There's out deadly danger for this version of reality".

"Doctor, you're letting a terrible draft in," the Time Lady remarked, shaking her head, and helped him to close the door, closing them off from the blinding light and the wind, but it didn't take away the coldness that had slipped inside. Even the Time Lords had begun shivering now as they rubbed their arms, trying to warm themselves.

"So this must be the dream," Amy reasoned, rubbing her arms, "There's no such thing as a cold star. Stars burn".

"And so is that one," the Hatter replied, jumping on the spot, just trying to warm herself up, "It's just burning ice cold".

"Is that possible?" Rory asked them.

The Doctor sighed in frustration, "I can't know everything," he huffed, jogging back up the steps, pointing at Amy and Rory, "Why does everybody expect me to, always?" he flopped down on one of the jump seats.

The Time Lady wrapped her coat around herself tighter and moved to lean against the railing beside the seat, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder, "I suppose that it could be possible," she said slowly, looking thoughtful as Amy and Rory looked to her, "I've never come across anything like it, nor do I recall reading anything about a cold star, but in theory it could work," she sighed after a moment, shaking her head, "But that's only in a completely baseless theory. I would have to do some proper research".

"Okay," Rory nodded, looking between the Time Lords, holding up his hands, "This is something neither of you have seen before. So does that mean this is the dream?" he questioned, sounding unsure.

"We don't _know_ ," the Doctor said, growing even more frustrated as the Hatter squizzed his shoulder comfortingly. He sighed and took a deep breath at her touch, trying to calm himself down, knowing that he really shouldn't be taking his feelings out on Amy and Rory, "But there it is," he continued slightly calmer, looking down to his watch, "And I'd say we've got about fourteen minutes until we crash into it. But that's not a problem," he shook his head and stood, stepping over to the controls.

"Because you know how to get us out of this?" he asked, sounding hopeful as he looked back and forth between the Time Lords.

The Hatter winced, giving him an apologetic look, "Ah…not quite…"

The Doctor picked up his stethoscope from the console, placing it around his neck, "Because we'll have frozen to death by then," he answered.

Amy groaned, shivering even worse, "Oh, then what are we going to do?" she demanded.

"The first thing is to stay calm," the Time Lady said firmly, looking around at the other three as the Doctor began pressing the end of the stethoscope to the console, listening, "We have to keep our heads, otherwise things will only get worse," she went on, her tone growing grim as she moved to stand beside the Doctor, "And very importantly, don't get sucked in. For all we know, _this_ could be the battle that we have to lose in order to win".

"Oh, this is so you, isn't it?" Rory eyed them, scoffing.

"What?" the Doctor blinked, looking up in confusion.

"Huh, what? A weird new star, fourteen minutes left to live, and only you two to save the day, huh? I just wanted a nice village and a family".

"Oh dear, Doctor," the Dream Lord suddenly appeared behind them, making them jump and whirl around to find him standing there, smirking at the Doctor, back in the clothing he had first appeared in, "Dissent in the ranks," he shook his head, his tone turning mocking, "There was an old doctor from Gallifrey, who ended up throwing his life away," he began in a sing-song voice as the Hatter narrowed her eyes at him, not impressed, "He let down his friends and…" he stopped as the birds started chirping and looked up, "Oh, no," he mockingly sighed, "We've run out of time," they began blinking sleepily, swaying on the spot, "Don't spend to long there, or you'll…um, catch your death here".

….

They awoke to find themselves lying on the ground of the playground back in Leadworth and quickly climbed back onto their feet. The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, frowning at how…quiet the playground was, not a single sound coming from where the children and their teacher had been playing before they had fallen asleep.

They hurried over to the set of wooden steps leading up to the ruin, looking around as they reached the top, only to find that the place was completely deserted, "This is wrong," the Hatter frowned, swallowing as she looked back to their others, feeling dread washing over her as Amy and Rory caught up to them, "Where have all the kids gone?"

She inhaled sharply as she looked down and spotted little mounds of sand or dirt scattered around before them in the field surrounded by the ruins walls with bits what appeared to be yellow and blue cloth, even a couple of drink bottles. She couldn't say exactly what it was about the mounds of sand that made her suddenly feel ill, just that whatever they were, she was dreading finding out the answer.

"Don't know," Rory replied, shrugging, not in the slightest bit concerned as the Doctor hurried forward and began to scan the sand with his sonic. The Hatter stayed behind with the humans, her hand reaching up to toy with her bow tie, "Play time's probably over," he continued, turning to Amy beside him, "You see, this is the _rea_ l one," he smiled at the red head, "I just feel it. Don't you feel it?"

Amy frowned slightly, glancing over towards the Doctor, before the Hatter, "I feel it both places," she said after a moment.

"I feel it here," he continued, looking around with a smile, "It's just so tranquil and relaxed. Nothing bad could ever happen here".

"Not really me, though, is it? I mean, would I be happy settling down in a place with a pub, two shops, and a _really_ bad Amateur Dramatics Society?" Rory opened his mouth, looking offended, but she quickly cut him off before he could say anything, "That's why I got pregnant, so I don't have to see them doing 'Oklahoma,'" she shook her head and looked back over to the Doctor, who was kneeling on the ground, letting a handful of the sand run through his fingers, his eyes wide, "Doctor, what are you doing? And what are those piles of dust?"

The Hatter closed her eyes tightly, "Please, sweetheart, tell me that's not what I think it is".

The Doctor slowly stood, looking grim and slightly sick, "Sorry, dear," he said softly, knowing how sensitive she was to this sort of thing. He stepped back over to them and took her hand, holding it tightly as she paled, "Play time's definitely over," he looked over to Amy and Rory.

"Oh, my God," Amy breathed, realising what the sand really was.

"This had better be the dream, because the alternative…" the Time Lady trailed off, swallowing thickly, forcing herself to look away, unable to stand looking at those little piles of sand any longer.

Rory stared at the sand, horrified, "What happened to them?" he asked.

Something caught the Time Lords eye over towards the road and they looked over to see all the old people from the home walking along the road.

"I think they did," the Doctor responded, nodding over towards the group.

Amy frowned and followed there gaze, "They're just old people," she said, shaking her head.

"They're not just old," the Hatter remarked, narrowing her eyes over towards the group, "They're extremely old people, far too old to be _humanly_ possible".

They began to make their back down the stairs, the Time Lords in the lead, "Sorry, Rory, we don't think you're what's been keeping them alive," the Doctor called back to him over his shoulder.

All the old people came to a stop on the road, lined up together, turning to face towards them as they approached, just as the Dream Lord appeared just ahead of them. Once again, he had changed and now wore a tweed, three piece suit and a fedora hat, and while the Hatter hated to admit it, she did feel a little less unnerved by him in a hat. Just a _little_ bit.

"Hello, peasants," the Dream Lord greeted cheerfully, grinning as he turned to the approaching Time Lords, pointing over towards the old people, "What's this, attack of the old people? Oh, that's ridiculous," he shook his head, still grinning, almost smugly, "This has to be the dream, hasn't it?" they came to a stop beside him as he turned towards Amy, "What do you think, Amy? Let's all jump under a bus and wake up in the TARDIS…" he looked over to the Hatter, raising his eyebrows at her, "You've always been reckless when it comes to your own life, haven't you, dear? How about you go first?"

"Leave her alone!" the Doctor suddenly snapped, whirling around to face him, glaring at him as he held the Hatter's hand tighter, so fast that the Time Lady berley had time to blink.

"Do that again," he smiled slowly up at the Doctor, "I love it when he does that. Tall dark hero. ' _Leave her alone_!'" he repeated in a commanding voice, imitating the Doctor before his eyes drifted over to Amy, "Don't you agree, Amy?"

"Just leave her!" Rory tried, stepping closer to Amy, his tone far less frightening then the Doctor's had been.

"Yes, you're not quite so impressive, but I know where your heart lies, don't I, Amy Pond?"

"Shut up," Amy demanded, trying to keep her voice low and level, her hands clinched as she glared at the Dream Lord, "Just shup up and leave me alone".

"Amy," the Hatter stepped closer to her, giving her a warning look, seeing that she was close to losing control, "Stay calm, remember?"

The Dream Lord only smiled wider, moving closer to both women as the Doctor made a move towards the Hatter, but she sent him a look, shaking her head, "But listen," he told them, his voice soft as he focused on Amy, "You're in there. Love's a red head, the Doctor, it was like Christmas when the Hatter was a red head _twice_ in a row…" his eyes came to rest on the Time Lady, who meet his gaze, unfazed, "But he's always been fond of dark hair, not surprising, since that was your first regeneration's hair colour, wasn't it?"

The Time Lady raised her eyebrows, trying hard to hide just how surprised she was by that information, though, he did have a point. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise, "You certainly do know a lot about us, don't you?" she commented, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, you haven't worked it out yet?" he raised his eyebrows at her, looking surprised, "I wonder if that's because you really don't want to believe what everything is pointing to? After all, you are rather good at denying what's right in front of you".

"Drop it," the Doctor cut in sharply as the Hatter frowned slowly. He couldn't let her work it out, not yet, he didn't think he could stand to see the look on her face if she learnt the truth, not after her reaction to the Valeyard. That man still haunted her, he knew, but this…this was worse than the Valeyard, because this was a part of him, while the Valeyard was a possible future regeneration, one that he would do everything to insure would never happen, he couldn't change what the Dream Lord represented, "Drop all of it," he looked at the Dream Lord darkly, "I know who you are".

"Course you don't," the Dream Lord rolled his eyes, and Amy, Rory, and the Hatter stared at the Doctor.

"Course I do. No idea how you can be here, but there's only _one_ person in the Universe who hates me as much as you do".

The Dream Lord broke into a smirk as the Hatter's frown deepened and she stepped closer to the Doctor, taking his hand, "Doctor, what aren't you telling me?" she asked quietly.

He sighed heavily and squizzed her hand, "Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do, sweetheart, but this isn't like you. What could possibly be so bad that you won't even tell _me_?"

He couldn't answer that. Besides, she already had more than enough to make a guess at just who the Dream Lord really was and knowing her, she would no doubt figure it out well before he finally plucked up the courage to tell her.

"Never mind me," the Dream Lord remarked, still smirking at the Time Lords, almost as if he knew what they were whispering about, "Maybe you should worry about them," and he looked over to the old people.

They all turned towards the road, only to find that all the old people were advancing upon them, some walking with the aid of their walking frames. They looked back to the Dream Lord to find that he had disappeared in there distraction, and back over to the advancing group.

"Okay," the Hatter eyed the old people warily, tilting her head, struck with the strangest urge to laugh, "This has got to be a first".

 _ **Ooh, I think this is a first, the Doctor knowing something while the Hatter is still in the dark. I actually quite enjoyed writing that change with her being clueless, it's refreshing. Next chapter, the Dream Lord and the Hatter have a little chat, will the Doctor tell her just who he is or will she work it out? And why is the Doctor being told off for being a gentlemen? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest review:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **An interesting idea, I do like the idea of the Hatter fighting against the darker side of herself and the Doctor slowly realising what's happening to her, and trying to help her. The only issue with that would be that she's already under gone a similar struggle before, during the Time War. I can't say much, but I will touch upon that darker side and the struggle that she faces with that part of herself in the next chapter.**_

 _ **That was intentional on my part that she would retain many of her traits throughout her regenerations, with some changes here and there as a contrast to how she changed during the Time War. Thanks for the review and suggestion :)**_


	14. Chapter 14 Amy's Choice, Part 2

_**Amy's Choice, Part 2**_

As the group of elderly people neared them, surprisingly fast, even the ones with the walking frames, the Time Lords, Amy, and Rory slowly began to back away, eyeing them nervously.

"Hi!" Rory called to them, giving them a little wave.

"Hello!" Amy added in a falsely bright, cheerful voice.

The Doctor clapped his hands together, trying to give them a smile, "Hello, we were wondering where you went," he informed them, edging carefully closer towards the group, "To get reinforcement, by the look of it!"

"Ah, are you feeling quite alright?" the Hatter asked, eyeing them as the old people hardly seemed to even hear what they said, determined to get them and…well, she wasn't entirely sure just what they had in mind, but from what she had already seen them do with an entire class of school kids, she didn't expect it was to gush over there grandkids with them, "It's just that you look a little…" she gestured towards them, looking at their set, blank expressions, "…tense".

"Hello, Mr Nainby," Rory smiled, stepping forward as he waved at an old man in a brown coat.

"Rory…" the Doctor began warningly.

He shook his head at him, "Mr Nainby ran the sweet shop," he told them, not listening to the Doctor's warning tone, "He used to slip me the odd free toffee…" Nainby suddenly grabbed Rory by his collar and lifted him off the ground, replacing his smile with a startled expression, "Did I not say, 'thank you?'" he asked nervously, when he was thrown backwards and landed on his back a short distance away in the mud. He sat back up, his eyes wide with shock, "How did he do that?"

"I don't think he's still the nice old man who gave you extra sweets anymore, Rory," the Hatter said grimly as he climbed back onto his feet, hurrying back over to them as the group came to a stop before them.

"Don't get comfortable here," the Doctor looked at Amy and Rory, before turning back to eye the group, "You may have to run, _fast_ "

Amy sighed and looked down at her stomach, rolling her eyes, "Can't we just talk to them?" she tried tiredly, knowing that in her currant state, running fast from a bunch of elderly people was going to be very difficult. Suddenly, the old people opened there mouths to reveal a large, green, reptilian eyes in their mouths, making her and Rory jump back as the Doctor grabbed his sonic, flashing it at the old woman before them, "There is an eye in her mouth!" she gasped.

"More than just an eye, I expect," the Hatter muttered, eyeing them warily.

The Doctor continued to scan the old woman, "The Hatter's right, there's a whole creature inside her," he nodded, "Inside all of them. They've been there for years, living and waiting".

"That's disgusting," Rory grimaced, looking crossed between disgusted and curious as he glanced at the Time Lords, "They're not going to be peeping out of anywhere else, are they?"

The Hatter opened her mouth, looking unsure whether she should be amused or if she should scold him, when Mrs Poggit suddenly leaned forward and hissed out a green gas towards them, apparently not pleased by Rory's question. They jumped back, Rory pulling Amy back as she screamed.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted at the humans, realising just how dangerous the situation had become. He held up his hands in an calming gesture as Amy and Rory ran off and the Hatter watched them go, wanting to make sure they got far enough away, "Okay, leave them, leave them," he quickly ordered the group as they moved to follow them, "Talk to us. Talk to us!" slowly, the old people stopped, seeming to be eyeing the Time Lords, "You are Eknodine," he continued, trying to buy Amy and Rory more time, "A proud, ancient race, you're better than this".

"So, tell us," the Hatter said, frowning at them, "Why come here and hide? What happened to your home?"

"We were driven from our planet by…" Mrs Poggit, or the creature that had taken over her body, began.

"…planet by upstart neighbours," the Doctor cut in, nodding as he exchanged a look with the Time Lady.

"So we've…" Mr Nainby started.

"…been living here under the disguise of elderly humans, living inside there very bodies for years," the Hatter sighed, shaking her head, feeling sorry for the original hosts of the bodies, "Which is why they've lived so long, you've been keeping them alive".

"We were humbled and destroyed," Mrs Poggit continued darkly, looking determined, "Now we will do the same to others".

"Okay," the Doctor remarked slowly, glancing at the Hatter, "Makes sense, I suppose. Credible enough".

The Time Lady inclined her head towards him, "Could actually be real," she agreed.

A young man pushing his bike along walked past them, "Morning," he called to them in greeting, not seeming to find a group of elderly people standing in the middle of a park with two strangers odd.

Suddenly, Mrs Poggit turned and shot the green gas at the man with a loud screech, turning him to dust right before the Doctor and the Hatter's very eyes, the bike falling onto the ground with a clatter.

"You need to leave this planet," the Doctor whirled back around to the group, glaring at them angrily.

"And now!" the Hatter added, just as angry by what she had just witnessed as the Doctor, "To many people have died today".

Mrs Poggit simply looked back to them and screeched loudly, not appearing the slightest bit concerned or threated.

The Time Lady winced at the sound, eyeing the group nervously as they seemed to be preparing themselves to attack again, "Ah…I think that's our cue to retreat, sweetheart," she swallowed.

"Good idea," he nodded, grabbing her hand.

They managed to dodge around the group, running back through the park and over to the road. They glanced back to find the group following after them as they hurried back down the road, trying to find some way to escape them, when the bird song started up again, making them stumble. They struggled to try and fight it off, desperately trying to stay awake as they stumbled off the road and over to a butcher's shop.

The Hatter pushed the door open, relieved to find it unlocked, and almost fell face first onto the floor as she stumbled inside the small shop front, but luckily the Doctor managed to just catch her arm, pulling her back up. He quickly slammed the door closed and locked it, flipping the 'Open and Closed' sign over onto the 'Closed' side.

"Oh, I love a good butcher's, don't you?" the Dream Lords commented as he appeared behind the counter, making them blink and look over to him. He was smirking at them, seeming to be enjoying their attempts to fight back against the bird song, and he had changed his clothing again, dressed this time in a butcher's uniform, even with a straw Pork Pie hat, "We've got to use these places or they'll shut down," the Doctor tried to ignore him by moving across the room to a door, trying it, only to find that it was locked. He glared at the Doctor, "Oh, but you're probably a vegetarian, aren't you, you big flop-haired wuss".

The Hatter groaned, running a hand down her face, "Would you shut up for five minutes?" she huffed, throwing the Dream Lord an annoyed look as she spotted a key sitting on a shelf and grabbed it, handing it to the Doctor, since he was closest to the door, "We're quite busy, if you hadn't already noticed," she added over her shoulder, watching as the Doctor fumbled with the keys, his hands shaking with the effort to stay awake.

"Getting a little anxious, dear?" the Dream Lord raised his eyebrows, looking more amused by her anger then anything, "Maybe you two need a little sleep…" the bird song started up again, this time even louder, and both Time Lords fell against the door, slipping down it until they slumped on the floor, half asleep, "Oh, wait a moment…" the chirping stopped and they blinked awake, alarmed, and quickly pulled themselves back onto their feet. He leaned over the counter towards them, mock concerned, "If you fall asleep here, several dozen pensioners will destroy you with their horrible eye things".

"Oh, please shut up," the Hatter muttered, almost pleadingly as she stumbled, her legs feeling like they were about to give way beneath her.

They managed to get around the counter and over to a door leading through to a small hallway, when the chirping returned, causing them to fall against the doorframe, the Doctor trying to cover his ears to block the sound.

"Fingers in the ears?" the Dream Lord scoffed, following them, "Brilliant!" the Doctor began sliding down the wall as the Hatter clutched onto the door frame with as much strength as she could, just trying to stay standing, "What's next, shouting 'boo?'" he looked back to the shop and gestured with his hands, seeming delighted as he caught sight of the old people outside the shop window, "Come in, come in!" he called to them as the little bell over the door jingled and the old people entered. He glanced back to the Time Lords, both of them having lost their battle to stay standing, now slumped on the floor, "Yes, we've got lots at 'steak' this week. Lots at _steak_ …" he cast the Time Lords a pointed look, "…get it?" the Time Lords suddenly jolted awake, their eyes widening in alarm as they struggled to stand, supporting each other as they caught sight of a door handle and latched onto it. The Dream Lord sighed, "Are these jokes wasted on you two?"

They tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, so they hurried across to the second freezer at the end of the hall, but as they reached it, the bird song returned and they slipped down it.

"Wait, stop…" the Doctor tried as the old people approached them, reaching inside his pocket.

"Oh," the Dream Lord exclaimed in mock sadness, shaking his head, "Oh, I can't watch," he covered his eyes, peeking out between his fingers at them.

Seeing just how close the old people were to getting them, the Doctor used the last of his strength to grab his sonic, pull himself back up, helping the Hatter to stand as she leant heavily against him, her eyes half closed. He flashed the sonic at the door, unlocking it, and hurried inside, slamming it behind them as he used his sonic to lock it once more.

The birdsong returned and slowly, he fell back against the door, the Time Lady slipping out of his arms and onto the floor, and they both fell asleep with the sound of the old people pounding on the door from the other side ringing in their ears…

….

The Doctor and the Hatter jolted awake to find themselves back in the TARDIS, Amy and Rory awaking beside them, and sitting up.

"Ah!" Amy gasped, grabbing one of the blankets and pulling it around her, shivering, "It's colder".

"Goodness," the Hatter breathed, feeling herself shaking, too, as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself, snuggling closer to the Doctor for extra warmth, "We really need to start thinking about what world is the dream," she said, looking around at the other three, "We need to pick and all agree, otherwise we're all going to end up dying".

"It's this, here," Rory replied, determined as he gestured around them, before quickly putting his hand back inside his pocket.

"He could be right," Amy nodded slowly, "The science is all wrong here," she frowned, glancing at the Time Lords, "Burning ice?"

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, buttoning his blazer as he pulled the Time Lady closer to him, "Ice can burn, sofas can read…" the Hatter opened her mouth, but decided against making a remark. He looked back and forth between them, "It's a big Universe. We have to agree which battle to lose. All of us, _now_ ".

The red head sighed, "Okay, so which world do you think is real?" she asked, looking at the Time Lords.

"This one," he answered, and the Hatter nodded along with him.

"No, the other one!" Rory said quickly.

"Yeah, but are we disagreeing, or competing?"

"Competing?" Amy repeated, looking confused, "Over what?"

Rory looked at her and she sighed, looking annoyed as she stood. The Hatter sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose, following after Amy, knowing that this was something that the Doctor needed to deal with, not her.

The Doctor turned to Rory, lowering his voice so that the girls wouldn't hear, "I'm not your competition, Rory," he told him quietly, "I'm married to a woman I've been in love with for _centuries_. Amy's a lovely woman, but I already have everything I have wanted since I was a child," he looked over to the Hatter, who was wondering around the console, her arms wrapped around her middle due to the cold. Rory followed his gaze, "She is _everything_ to me," he finished, turning back to him, trying to make him understand just how deep his feelings for the Hatter ran.

Centuries had gone by and yet, only one woman had managed to make him feel like the Hatter made him feel. Nothing had changed, if anything, since the Time War his feelings for her had only grown, if that was possible, and now knowing just how it felt to lose her once, the idea of ever losing her again was unbearable. Perhaps he had taken her for granted before that she would always be there, but he would never make that mistake again, not now that he knew what it was like to live without her being in his life.

He eyed Rory for a moment longer, trying to make sure that he understood, before he checked his watch, "Nine minutes till impact," he announced to the room, jumping up onto his feet and stepping over to the Hatter, wrapping an arm around her.

"What temperature is it?" Amy questioned, looking around the steadily frosting room as she pulled the blanket off herself, placing it on the console.

"Well, outside…" the Hatter began, wincing slightly at the thought of just how cold it actually was out there, "Let's just say that you are going to need a lot of zeros for me to answer that question".

"But inside?" the Doctor added, trying to keep himself moving on the spot to stop his legs from freezing, his arm still around the Time Lady, "I don't know but I can't feel my feet and…" he glanced around at them, "Other parts".

"Okay!" the blonde held up a hand, throwing him a quick look, "Let's not go there, sweetheart".

Rory stepped over to the console and picked up the phone receiver, holding it up, "Can't we call for help?" he asked, looking over to the Time Lords.

"Yeah…" the Doctor moved over to him and grabbed the receiver, "Because the Universe is really small and there's bound to be somebody nearby," he rolled his eyes slightly, lightly tapping Rory's head, before setting the receiver back down.

"Put these on, both of you," Amy called over to them, throwing the Doctor the Hatter two blankets with a hole in it, that they caught and blinked down at, while she stepped over to Rory, pulling the third and last blanket over his head.

Rory looked down his front as the Doctor pulled on his blanket, but the Hatter frowned slightly, making no move to put hers on, "Oh, a poncho," he remarked, "The biggest crime against fashion since lederhosen," he looked up, but frowned as he caught sight of Amy standing there, still shivering without a blanket. He quickly moved to pull his off, "Amy, here…"

"No," the Hatter cut across him, moving forward, holding her blanket out to Amy, "You take mine," Amy opened her mouth and she continued, "Just take it, please. I'm a Time Lady, the cold will take longer to kill me then it will you, so please don't argue".

Amy smiled at her and gratefully took the blanket, pulling it over her head, "Thank you," she nodded to her, pulling her hair out from under the blanket.

The Doctor pulled off his blanket and before the Hatter could even speak, he plucked her hat off her head and pulled the blanket over her head, ruffling her hair, "And don't you dare take it off," he pointed sternly at her as she sighed, rolling her eyes, "I'll be fine".

"Sweetheart, we are very far from being fine right now, considering the fact that we're slowly freezing to death. Stop being such a gentlemen and put this blanket back on!"

"No," he shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms as he pulled his blazer tighter around himself, trying to hide just how cold he actually was.

She glared at him before huffing loudly, deciding that she would have to bide her time and wait to find a chance to get it back on him, "Fine," she said quietly, her voice blank of emotions, "Have it your way…for _now_ ," he narrowed his eyes at her, "Now, give me back my hat and come here," she held out her hand. He handed her the hat, eyeing her warily as she put the hat back on, before rolling her eyes at him again, "It's not a trick, sweetheart. There's no reason we can't both share this blanket".

He smiled slightly, seeing that she wasn't planning some trick and moved closer to her, wrapping an arm around her, enjoying the warmth. But, of course, he really couldn't be sure that she wasn't up to something. She was definitely going to get him back later, he knew that.

They turned back to look at the scanner screen to see that the frozen star was growing closer, they could even now make out an icy blue hue to it as they watched grimly.

"We're not going to die," Rory remarked after a moment, trying to sound more determined then he felt.

"No, we're not," the Doctor agreed, quickly checking his watch, "But our time's running out," he sighed heavily, clapping his hands together, trying to warm his fingers up, "If we fall asleep here we're in trouble…." he began pacing, rubbing his arms as he shivered.

"If only we could split up," the Hatter commented thoughtfully, watching him pace, feeling guilty as she noticed how much he was shivering. She was definitely putting this blanket on him as soon as she could, "That way two of us could work in each world to try and work this out".

He nodded along with her, still pacing, "But the Dream Lord is switching us between worlds," he frowned, shaking his head in frustration, "Why? Why? What's the logic?"

"Good idea, rainbow," the Dream Lord suddenly appeared, pacing alongside the Doctor with a blanket on, his eyes coming to land on the Time Lady as Amy and Rory jumped slightly, "Let's divide you four up, so I can have a little chat with our lovely companion and resident Time Lady," Amy and the Hatter exchanged a slightly nervous look as he came to a stop before them, giving them an unnerving smile. The Doctor's eyes narrowed at him, looking anything but pleased by the suggestion, "Maybe I'll keep them," he continued as if he had only just come up with the idea, turning to the Doctor, "And you can have Pointy Nose to yourself for all eternity, should you manage to clamber aboard some sort of reality".

The birdsong started up again, but only the Doctor and Rory could hear it as the Doctor looked worriedly at the Hatter, desperately trying to fight off the effects.

"Can you hear that?" Rory asked Amy, blinking slightly as he stepped closer to her.

"What?" Amy shook her head, looking startled as she glanced at the Hatter, "No".

"Don't worry about us," the Hatter told them, giving them both a comforting look as she watched them trying so hard to stay with them, afraid of just what the Dream Lord had in store for them when they were in the other world. She stepped closer to Amy and wrapped an arm around the girl's shoulders, "We'll be fine," she looked at Rory, who was trying to stay standing, but was losing the battle, "Rory, I promise, I'll keep Amy safe".

The Doctor tried to smile at her as he felt his eyes beginning to drop and his legs struggling to hold him up, "We'll be back," he said firmly.

"Be careful," she looked back and forth between the two men, trying to hid just how afraid she was, not for herself and Amy, but for them. They would be in far more danger then she or Amy was, she knew that for sure.

Slowly, both men slumped onto the floor, the Doctor reaching out his hand towards the Time Lady as his eyes slipped shut. The Hatter let go of Amy and knelt on the floor, taking his hand, squeezing it gently as he fell asleep, trying to reassure him that they would be okay.

The Dream Lord smirked at the woman, watching them, "We're going to have fun, aren't we?"

The Hatter pulled herself back onto her feet, glaring at him as he gave them a mocking wave, before disappearing, leaving them alone.

….

The Doctor's eyes snapped open and he found himself back in the freezer, slumped against the door. He gave himself a sharp shake, pulling himself up straighter, when he noticed the Hatter was still asleep beside him, her head resting on his shoulder, her hat sitting on an odd angle, but the sound of her soft, heavy breathing calmed him.

Carefully, he guided her onto the floor, moving her away from the door and picked up her hat, debating what he should do with it, before shoving it into his own pocket, knowing that she would kill him if he lost it. He remembered what happened the last time he had stolen her hat and hidden it in the console room…it certainly hadn't been pretty. She had blown up his sonic screwdriver, he had thought she was bluffing, thinking that she wouldn't destroy something that they had once built together, but he had really underestimated just how serious she had been. He had spent a week finding bits of his screwdriver stuck in his hair after that.

Once he sure that she was comfortable, or at least as comfortable as she could possibly be lying on a concrete, freezer floor, he stepped back over to the door, pushing his ear against it, listening. He could faintly hear the sound of the creatures screaming outside and he reached inside his pocket, withdrawing his sonic.

"Okay," he murmured, moving the sonic closer to the door handle, "Where is it?" he began trying to find the right frequency, the green light on the end flashing as he managed to locate it. He hurried back over the Hatter and pulled her up right, wrapping an arm around her waist as her head limply rolled backwards, "Sorry, dear," he winced slightly, struggling to hold her up as he moved back over to the door, trying to adjust her in his arms.

Despite her love of all things sweet, she really wasn't that heavy, but attempting to juggle a completely limp person while opening a door was quite tricky, and it took him a moment to find a way to open the door with his sonic in hand, before aiming it up towards the light hanging above the group of old people outside waiting for them, causing it to send sparks all over them, dazing them.

They blinked and covered their eyes at the expulsion as the Doctor scooped the Hatter up into his arms and ran through the group, running over to the backdoor, and out through a small yard out the back of the butcher's shop, through a gate, and onto the street. He looked around, trying not to toss the Hatter around too much, when he heard something.

"Oh help, somebody!" a man was shouting a short distance up the street, hiding inside an old VW bus, trying to close the driver's door, while Mr Nainby attempted to get inside, trying to get the trapped man.

"Oh, you couldn't live near the shops, could you?" the Doctor muttered, rolling his eyes slightly, tightening his hold on the Time Lady in his arms as he raced down the street towards the man.

"Help me!" the man cried frantically, struggling with the door, "Help me!"

The Doctor reached the van and tried to think of what to do with his arms full, when Nainby caught sight of him and whirled around from the van, taking a clumsily swing at him, that the Doctor managed to avoid and quickly kicked the back of his leg, sending the old man sprawling across the road with a loud growl of pain. Once he was out of the way, the Doctor hurried forward and pulled the door to the van open, looking at the owner of the van, who was staring at him, "It's okay, only me," he assured him cheerfully, carefully lifting the Hatter up into the van before following after her, slamming the door closed. He paused, glancing at the blonde, "Well, me and the wife".

The young man climbed into the back of the van as the man cast the Hatter a mildly concerned look as the Time Lady slumped in the passage seat, her head resting against the widow, "Is she okay?" he asked.

The Doctor waved him off, focusing on the wheel of the van as he started it up, "Just a little sleepy," he replied, "It's been happening a lot today".

He drove the van quickly off down the road and through the village, slowing down as he caught sight of two women at the playground, surrounded by advancing old people. The man in the back slid the side door open, gesturing to them urgently, "Get in!" he called to them, gaining there attention, "Get in, get in. Quickly, quickly, over here! Quickly! Get in…"

"Come on, jump in," the Doctor urged at the same time as the women ran over to the van, "Quickly, get in now! Quickly. Hurry up," the women jumped in, the second one slightly hesitate as the van continued to move. He glanced up at the revere mirror, trying to see if everyone had made it inside as the man slid the door shut, "Are we in?" before anyone had time to answer, he caught sight of a young family huddled fearfully together by a gate of a house, while the old people approached. He slowed the van once more and the man slid the door open again.

"Quickly, in here!" the man told them, gesturing to the family.

"All four, quick!" he called through the open driver's window. The parent's pushed their children into the back of the van first before following, "That's it, everyone in!"

As soon as they were safely inside the van, the door slid shut again and they speed off down the street.

….

The TARDIS console was covered in a thick layer of frost as the temperature dropped even further the closer they drifted towards the icy star. Amy could only huddle in her blanket as she sat on the steps leading up to higher level of the room, her hair and face covered with little specs of ice, along with her clothing. She couldn't even imagine how cold it must have been for the Hatter, who had removed her blanket almost as soon as the boys had fallen asleep, and wrapped it around the Doctor.

The Hatter was walking around and around the console, her hands buried deeply into her coat, in a similar state as the red head. Amy could practically see her shaking from where she was sitting, but the Time Lady didn't regret giving her blanket to the Doctor, not if it kept him a bit warmer, and besides, her face and extremities had already gone numb, so it wasn't too bad, just a little uncomfortable.

"Are you okay, Hatter?" Amy asked after a moment, watching the blonde as she did yet another circle of the console, carefully edging around the Doctor and Rory as she did so. Her movements had started to grow sluggish, she had noticed, and her pace had slowed. She couldn't help but wonder how much longer she would be able to keep standing, let alone walking with the rate she was going, and if she collapsed, what would she say to the Doctor?

"I've been better," the Hatter admitted, grimacing as she glanced over her shoulder to the girl, "I just need to keep moving, try and keep the blood flowing. If anything else, it should help to reduce the build-up of frost".

"You could always put the blanket back on".

"No," she said firmly, shaking her head stubbornly, "This is exactly what the Doctor would be doing right now if he was here. I won't take away something that will help keep him alive and comfortable, just for myself".

Silence fell over them as Amy watched as the Hatter continued pacing, when the Dream Lord suddenly appeared on the step below from her. Both women were too cold to even be surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Poor Amy," he remarked quietly, and the Time Lady paused in her pacing, narrowing her eyes at him, "He always leaves you, doesn't he?" he looked over to the Doctor as Amy followed his gaze, "Alone in the dark," he shook his head, turning back to her, "Never apologises".

"She's not alone," the Hatter reminded him sharply.

"And he doesn't have to apologise," Amy added, standing and moving away from him to stand beside the blonde.

"That's good, because he never will," Amy paused and looked back across the Dream Lord, unable to stop herself from listening to what he said, "And now he's left you with me. _Both_ of you," he smiled slightly at them, "Spooky old, not-to-be-trusted me," he suddenly appeared in one of the jump seats, lounging back in a black and red robe that showed his chest. He smirked at them, "Anything could happen".

The Time Lady raised her eyebrows at him, not impressed in the slightest, "Yeah, and I could spend the rest of my life with this imprinted into my brain," she sighed, making a face, "Like I needed anymore bad dreams".

Amy eyed him for a moment, "Who are you, and what do you want?" she demanded, slowly stepping closer to him as he simply smirked at them, "The Doctor knows you, but he's not telling me who you are. And he _always_ does," the Hatter inwardly sighed, looking away, "Takes him a while sometimes, but he tells me," she continued, watching him carefully, "So you're something different".

The Dream Lord glanced at the Hatter, "First Rose Tyler, and now this one," he commented, sounding amused, "How quickly they overlook everyone else in his life," he shook his head, focusing his attention back on Amy, "Is that who you think you are?" he questioned her, still seeming quite amused, "The one he trusts?"

She held her head higher, "Actually, yes".

He stood, looking as if he was fighting back the urge to laugh, "The only girl in the Universe to whom the Doctor tells _everything_?"

"Yes".

"So what's his name?" he asked, tilting his head mockingly, knowing full well that Amy would never be able to answer that. Amy blinked and stepped back from him, just as he disappeared and reappeared beside the Hatter, back in the tweed and bow tie. He looked back to Amy, smirking as he made a sweeping gesture towards the Time Lady, "Now then, meet the only woman in the Universe to whom the Doctor trusts and tells everything too. The one woman who knows him better than anyone else," he shot Amy a pointed look, "Even better then you do, or _ever_ will".

The Hatter crossed her arms across her chest, "Leave her alone," she told him sharply, her voice quiet, but there was a dangerous edge hidden within it.

He raised his eyebrows and turned to her, "Oh, of course. You would defend someone who tried to seduce your husband, wouldn't you?" he scoffed slightly.

"No, I'm defending someone from a bully, it neither matters what Amy's past actions might have been when it comes to that".

He stepped closer to her until he was inches from her face, but the Hatter didn't flitch or even blink, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, "You can't fool me, dear," he whispered to her, smirking, "There's a dark side to you, I've seen it," his eyes twinkled as the Hatter struggled to keep her composer, "You wrap yourself up in smiles and laughter, caring for others, all those selfless little acts, but I know what is buried deep inside you".

She swallowed, her eyes flickering over to Amy, and back to him, "Just as I've worked out who you are," she said softly, trying to distract him from herself, "Or more accurately, who you _represent_ ".

"Finally," he rolled his eyes, "Took you long enough".

"You're right, I was an idiot," she nodded, keeping her voice low so that Amy couldn't hear, "I should have seen it right from the start, but you threw me a little bit with the whole 'Amy's choice' move. So when I started thinking about it, I realised that this whole time you weren't really targeting her, you were targeting the Doctor. From the mockery of his clothing, right down to the little endearment you have been calling me, it all pointed back to him," her eyes drifted away from him as a look of realisation crossed her face, followed by sadness, "No wonder he didn't want to tell me," she breathed, "He was ashamed and as always, he was trying to protect me".

"The brave hero, trying to protect his damsel," he mocked, "But we both know that you don't need protecting, not from anyone outside," she frowned at him as he continued, "You've given into that darker side before…"

"Yes, and I created the Moment," she cut him off, glaring at him angrily, "That was the worst time of my entire life, I had almost been driven mad by grief, my home was at war and I could do nothing to stop it. My best friend had been turned into a soldier, and so yes, I gave in. I let myself forget about my morals, about everything that mattered to me, and when I realised the horror that I had built…" she closed her eyes tightly and turned away, breathing heavily as emotions raged through her. Guilt, shame, anger, and self-hatred all toppled over her, making her feel ill as she struggled to compose herself.

The Dream Lord followed her, appearing right in front of her again, "And so you handed it over to the Doctor when he came," he remarked, his gaze hardening, "Handed it over with hardly a fight and when he needed you the most, you refused to go with him".

Her eyes snapped open, "A mistake a will never be able to make up for," she said in a forcefully calm voice, trying with every ounce of her self-control to regain some control over her emotions, "Oh, come on," she narrowed her eyes at him, "You've seen my dreams, you know how much guilt and pain I feel over that mistake, how much I wish I could fix it, but I never will be able to, and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life, all because I was too weak to be there for my best friend".

"And yet, even now, you fight so hard against that other part of yourself".

"The woman who created the Moment is a stranger to me," she snapped, shaking no longer from the cold, but from her anger, anger that she hadn't felt since she had come face to face with Davros, "She was cold and calculating, she didn't care about what after effects creating such a device would lead to, just as long as it took the pain and grief away, and so you had better believe that I will fight until my dying breath before I ever allow myself to become that woman again, because she is _not_ me".

The Dream Lord laughed suddenly and Amy jumped, so engrossed by listening the Hatter that the unexpected sound had startled her, "Oh, but she is very much a part of you," he whispered to her, too low for Amy to hear as he leaned closer to the blonde, "That part of you is as much a part of you as I am a part of the Doctor. You both keep those sides of you hidden, buried deep for fear of what might happen if you let yourself give in, but every now and then, it comes out. You're just better at keeping it buried, after all, we all know how good you are at self-denial".

The Hatter inhaled deeply and took a step back, suddenly feeling completely drained, even the anger she had felt before seemed to fade away, replaced with a sense of numbness that had nothing to do with the cold. All she wanted to do with curl up in the Doctor's arms and pretend as if the Dream Lord's words hadn't been right, even a simple hug would have sufficed. She had never denied that darkness inside her, but there was a difference between admitting to something and accepting it, and perhaps that's what she had been forgetting about for all these centuries, refusing to accept that side of herself out of fear that those feelings would overwhelm her.

After all, just look at what happened to the Master and the Rani, two people who fully accepted who and what they were without fear, and all the terrible acts that they had committed. The Hatter had always known that she was more than capable going down the same path as they had and she did have to admit that it was far easier to simply give in then to keep fighting, but she also knew that that's what made her different from her once old friends. She and the Doctor had that potential, and yet they had dedicated their lives to helping and protecting others, she had always known that it was our choices that defined us, but thinking about it now, she realised just how true those words really were. She had chosen to stay true to who she was, desperately clinging to her morals, refusing to use violence, and making all those little rules up over the years, because she knew that despite that potential, giving into the dark side terrified her more than even the Daleks could ever.

The Dream Lord was right, though, that dark side that had led to her creating the Moment was a part of her, even if she didn't want to accept it, and she had the full potential to become that woman all over again, given the right circumstances, but the same could be said for the Doctor. The Valeyard was proof enough of that and trying to pretend otherwise now was pointless, but that realisation made her only more determined to stop herself from being overwhelmed by that side of herself. That darkness was a part of her, but that didn't mean that she had to give into it, even if it killed her, she refused to give in, not after what happened to the last time she had given in. Besides, if she couldn't even help herself, how was she ever supposed to help protect the Doctor from his own darkness?

The Dream Lord watched the Time Lady for a moment, smirking at her reaction to his words, before he suddenly appeared crouching between the Doctor and Rory's feet, "Now, Amy," he began, looking over to her, making her blink in surprise, "Which of these men would you really choose?" he asked, "Look at them. You ran away with a handsome hero, even though he already had his love," he gestured over to the Doctor, raising his eyebrows at Amy, "Would you really give him up for a bumbling country doctor who thinks the only thing he needs to be interesting is a _ponytail_?"

"Stop it!" Amy snapped, shaking her head quickly, glancing at the Hatter. Thing's had only just started to get back to normal between them since she had tried to kiss the Doctor, the last thing she wanted was for things to get even worse.

"But maybe it's better than loving and losing the Doctor," he continued, standing, his eyes fixed on Amy, "Pick a world, and this nightmare will all be over," he stepped closer to her, glancing down to Rory and the Doctor, "They'll listen to you. It's you they're waiting for," he smirked, "Amy's _choice_ ".

And with that, he disappeared, leaving the two women in silence. Amy waited for a moment, expecting him to pop up again, but when he didn't, she knelt beside Rory and adjusted his blanket around him, but even as she did so, her eyes couldn't help but drift over to the Doctor.

The Hatter watched her for a moment before moving to kneel on the floor on the other side of the Doctor, picking up his frost covered hand with her own freezing one, "He said it himself," she remarked after a moment, looking up to meet Amy's eyes, "This is your choice, all of this. You are the one who has to pick which world is the real one, Amelia".

"How?" Amy asked at once, sounding desperate, "Hatter, I don't know how to decide?"

She sighed heavily, shaking her head, "I don't know either," she replied tiredly, "I just know that only you can decide," Amy open her mouth, looking ready to argue, but the blonde quickly went on, "Think about it. Out of all of us, you are the one most conflicted by which world is real. This one…" she looked around the console room, "This feels real to the Doctor and I, but to Rory it's the village, while to you, both worlds are equally compelling, and that's why only you can decide".

"But I don't know _how_!"

"Then figure out what it is you truly want!" the Time Lady snapped suddenly, her already short temper from her encounter with the Dream Lord flaring. Amy's eyes widened in shock, certainly not expecting the Hatter to just snap like that. The blonde sighed again and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry, Amy," she said after a moment, looking back to her, "I shouldn't have snapped and I apologise. I'm afraid that my emotions are running a little high at the moment".

Amy nodded slowly, still looking a little unsure, "It's okay…"

"No, it's not," she cut her off, giving her a weak smile, "But I thank you for being so understanding," she took a deep breath, trying to regain some control over her own emotions as she focused back on Amy, "But right now we need to work on finding a way to fix this whole mess, and hopefully before we freeze to death".

…

The Doctor stopped the bus outside the back of the church and jumped out, hurrying over to the side door, and sliding it open, "Everybody out!" he called to the people, ushering them out of the bus, "Out, out! Into the church, that's right!" the people, and even a dog that he had picked up along the way, began running out and through the churchyard, heading as fast as they could over to the church, "Don't answer the door!" he added, half-serious.

Once everyone, including the dog, was out and running for the church, he slid the door shut and threw the driver's door back open, climbing back inside, setting off speeding down the street towards Amy and Rory's cottage. He glanced at the Hatter in the passenger seat every now and then, checking to make sure that she was okay as the bus bounced violently as he drove.

He very dearly hoped that she didn't end up getting a bruise on her head from where it was leaning against the window. She would never let him forget it if she did end up with a bruise. He turned his attention back on the road, when he noticed the Dream Lord appear in the revere mirror, sitting in the back of the bus in a racing uniform, the helmet sitting in his lap.

"It's make your mind up time in _both_ worlds," the Dream Lord remarked to him, breaking into a smirk.

"Fine," the Doctor replied coldly, sending him a glare in the mirror, "I need to find my friends and I want my wife back," his tone turned threateningly, "And if you have hurt her…"

"Friends?" he repeated, interrupting him with a scoff, "Is that the right word for the people you acquire?" the Doctor's jaw tensed, trying to ignore him and failing, " _Friends_ are people you stay in touch with. Your friends never see you again once they've grown up," he glared at the Doctor, "The old man prefers the company of the young, does he not? The only exception is _her_ ," he nodded over to the Hatter.

And with that, he disappeared, and the Hatter jolted awake, looking around widely, seeming very confused and alarmed as to where she was.

"Hatter!" the Doctor cried in relief, almost sending them off the road as he tried to look at her and drive at the same time, "It's alright, dear," he added quickly, catching her expression, "We're going to Amy and Rory's".

The Hatter blinked at him for a moment before sighing, closing her eyes, "Oh, you have no idea how happy I am to see you, sweetheart," she breathed, wishing she could hug him.

"The Dream Lord, what did he do to you and Amy?"

Her shoulder's slumped and looked away from him, "I'll tell you about it later," she told him, not wanting to discuss that whole ordeal right now. He opened his mouth, frowning worriedly, sensing something very off about her, but seemed to think better off it, "Ah, Doctor…" her hand reached up to touch her head, a frown of her own crossing her face as she realised her hat was missing, "What happened to my hat?"

He smiled slightly, before quickly replacing it with an apologetic look, "Sorry, dear, but it fell off…"

"Doctor…" her eyes narrowed at him, when he couldn't contain himself any longer, and burst out laughing. She smiled slightly, unable to stop herself as she realised what he had done, "Oh, well done," she muttered, shaking her head fondly as she nudged his side, "You're lucky I didn't start shouting at you with how short my temper is at the moment".

The Doctor's smile faded as he reached inside his pocket and withdrew her folded up hat, handing it to her, "What did…" he began.

"Please, I'll tell you later," the Hatter cut him off quickly, putting her hat on with a little more force then necessary. She took a deep breath and looked back to him, smiling at him sadly, "I worked out who the Dream Lord is supposed to be," his hands on the wheel of the bus tightened and he suddenly became very focused on the road. She reached across the seat and placed a hand on his arm, "Sweetheart, you never need to feel ashamed when it comes to me, you know that".

He sighed heavily, "I'm sorry, I should have told you".

"Yes, you should have," she agreed, still smiling at him sadly, "But I forgive you. Though, for future reference, if you ever think keeping something from me will help to protect me, then you don't know me at all".

He couldn't help but smile at that, knowing that she did have a very good point. Keeping something for the Hatter was one way to make sure that she would work it out, even more so when she knew that something was being kept from her in the first place. She probably would have a made a good journalist in that regard, no wonder she and Sarah Jane got along so well.

They arrived at Amy and Rory's house and the Doctor slowed the bus as they stared outside, watching while the cottage was surrounded by the old people all trying to find a way inside, using everything from garden ornaments to lawn mowers to try and break inside. He stopped the bus and cut the engine as they exchanged a look.

"Doctor, am I really seeing this or have I overdosed on jelly babies…again?" the Hatter asked, actually unsure whether she was really seeing a group of old people laying siege to a cottage.

He looked back to her, shrugging, "Well, this could all just be a dream".

"Ah, good point".

They turned back to the cottage, trying to work out how to get inside, when they noticed a slight shadow moving in one of the upstairs windows, "Okay…" the Doctor muttered, looking back to the Time Lady, who nodded.

They opened the doors and slipped carefully out, and ducked out of sight before the old people could spot them.

…

The window squeaked as the Hatter struggled to pull the window open, making Amy and Rory look up, startled at the sound as they sat on the floor across from the window, watching as the Time Lady climbed through the window, letting herself to fall onto her knees, while the Doctor followed after her.

"Sorry," the Doctor called to them, catching sight of the couple as he pulled his leg over the windowsill, "We had to stop off at the butcher's," his leg caught on the edge of the sill, sending him sprawling across the floor before them.

The Hatter took a moment to cast her eyes around the room and smiled faintly, realising that they were in Amy and Rory's nursery with bright yellow walls, all the little stuffed toys, and the crib. She had always thought that a nursery should be brightly coloured, needless to say, her Mother hadn't agreed.

"What are we going to do?" Rory asked quickly, looking slightly panicked as he looked back and forth between the Time Lords.

"We're not entirely sure yet," the Hatter answered wearily, sighing heavily, "Either world could be the real one," her eyes drifted over to rest on Amy, "Having said that, I do believe I know just which one of us will be able to work it out".

Amy frowned at her, when she suddenly gasped, her frown replaced with a pained expression, "Oh!" she winced, clutching at her stomach as she looked at Rory, "I think the baby's starting".

"Honestly?" Rory questioned, looking a little mistrustful as the Time Lords sat up straighter.

"Would I make it up at a time like this?" she snapped at him.

"Well, you do have a history of…" he began, and she glared at him, making his eyes widen, "…being very lovely," he quickly finished, glancing at the Time Lords.

"Nice save," the Hatter remarked quietly to him, moving to kneel beside Amy, wrapping an arm around her as the girl cried out painfully. She rubbed her back, "It's going to be perfectly fine, Amy," she tried to sooth her, "You're lucky enough to have two fully train doctors and one self-proclaimed one".

"Have you ever delivered a baby before?" Amy groaned, throwing her a look.

"Ah…" she gave her a slightly apologetic look, "No, this would be a first. There wasn't much use for midwifes on Gallifrey when you had Looms that did all of that without the agony".

"Not helping, Hatter!"

The sound of the old people trying to break inside the house grew louder as Rory looked over to the Time Lords, "Why are they so desperate to kill us?"

"They're scared," the Doctor replied grimly, glancing back over towards the window they had climbed through, "Fear generates savagery".

Suddenly, a garden gnome was thrown through the window behind them, smashing the glass, and causing them to jump as the Hatter automatically tried to shield Amy from the glass. Rory stood and stepped over to the broken window to investigate, when Mrs Poggit appeared, shooting the green mist at him. He cried out in pain and shock, stumbling backwards and collapsing onto the floor.

"Rory!" Amy shouted fearfully, ignoring her own pain, and hurrying over to his side as he fell against the wall. The Hatter quickly knelt on his other side, trying to think of something, anything to try and save Rory, but there was nothing.

The Doctor ran over to the window, grabbing a lamp, whacking the old woman with it, sending her falling off the roof with a screech. He whirled back around to look at the others and he caught sight of the Hatter's expression as she stood, moving back to give Amy and Rory a chance to say goodbye. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

Rory looked down at himself, "No!" he breathed fearfully, looking at his hand as it began to dissolve, "I'm not ready".

"Stay," Amy begged, her eyes full of tears.

He looked back up to her face, "Look after out baby," he whispered, slowly turning to sand.

The Hatter closed her eyes, struggling to hold back tears, "Oh, Rory…" she murmured. She wanted to go to Amy's side and comfort her, but she could tell already that Amy didn't want that, at least not from her or the Doctor, not at this moment.

"No…" Amy gasped, trying to hold onto him, but he simply slipped through her fingers. All she could do was look down at the pile of sand before her, "No. Come back," she looked back up to the Time Lords, shaking, "Save him," she pleaded, but they could only look at her sadly, "You two save everyone. You always do. It's what you _do_ ".

The Doctor swallowed, holding the Hatter tighter to himself, "Not always," he said softly, looking down at the pile of sand, unable to stand seeing the look on Amy's face, "I'm sorry".

"Then what is the point of you?" she demanded, glaring at them as the Hatter flinched, both of them looking down at the floor. She turned back to the pile of sand and lightly touched it, desperately wishing that Rory was back, and suddenly…everything made sense to her. She knew exactly what she needed to do, because the idea of a world without Rory in it was not a world that she ever wanted. She struggled to climb onto her feet and the Hatter stepped forward to help her as she turned back to face them, clutching the ponytail that Rory had cut off when she had woken up, "This is the dream," she said firmly, "Definitely, _this_ one. Now, if we die here, we wake up, yeah?"

He nodded, glancing at the Hatter, "Unless we just die".

"Either way, this is my only chance of seeing him again. This is the dream".

"How do you know?"

"Because if this is real life, I don't want it. I _don't_ want it".

The Hatter gave her an understanding look, "Losing the people we love, makes everything so much simpler," she said quietly, putting a hand on Amy's arm, grateful when she didn't shrug it off.

Amy gave her a forced nod and turned, making her way over to the door, almost throwing the chair that was leaning against it out of the way as she flung the door open, and disappearing out of sight.

"Are you sure about this, dear?" the Doctor asked, glancing at her as they followed after the red head.

"Sweetheart, if we do end up dying," the Hatter gave him a small smile, trying to make herself sound more confident then she really felt. There was every chance that they could be making a big mistake, after all, "I can't think of anything better then to die with you by my side".

They made their way down the stairs and through the front door, but not one of the old people made a move to attack them, simply watching them.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Amy shouted, glaring around at the old people, almost daring them to even try.

"Either because this is the dream, or because they know what we're about to do," the Doctor responded grimly, casting his eyes back to the old people. They reached the bus and Amy paused, turning back to them, holding out her hand with a determined look on her face. He took a deep breath, eyeing her carefully, "Be very sure," he warned her, "This could be the real world…"

"It can't be," she said forcefully, shaking her head, looking back and forth between them, "Rory isn't here. I didn't know…" tears began falling down her face, "I didn't, I didn't, I honestly didn't, till right now. I just want _him_ ".

"We understand," the Time Lady assured her, knowing very well that if she was in Amy's position, she would be doing exactly the same thing. She couldn't imagine a Universe without the Doctor in it and she dearly hoped that she never had to.

"We really do," the Doctor agreed, taking the Hatter's hand as he passed Amy the keys, remembering just what it had felt like to lose the Hatter once, but to lose her now, after knowing what it was like to be married to her, was too much to even bear thinking about.

Amy took the keys and nodded to them, before moving around to open the driver's door, climbing inside, and starting the motor as the Time Lords stepped over to the passenger side, pausing as they caught sight of the Dream Lord standing there, watching them. The Hatter ignored him, pretending as if she hadn't seen him at all, and opened the passenger door, climbing inside as the Doctor followed a moment later.

"I love Rory, and I never told him," Amy looked at them as soon as the Doctor had slammed the door, looking heartbroken and filled with guilt, just thinking about all the times she could have said it, the times that she _should_ have, and yet, never did, "But now he's gone," she shook her head, taking a deep breath as she focused back on the front of the bus.

And with that, she revved the engine and the bus took off, gaining more and more speed as she turned the wheel sharply, sending it crashing through the front fence and straight into the side of the house.

…

The entire console room was covered in a thick layer of ice as the Doctor's eyes snapped open, finding the Hatter's face inches from his own, her face and hair covered in ice as her eyes flickered, struggling to open. Painfully, and with as much strength as he could manage, he moved closer to her, placing a hand on her cheek as he ran his eyes down her, trying to figure out why she was finding it so much harder to wake, when it hit him: she had given him the blanket.

"Oh, Hatter," he murmured, closing his eyes tightly as he rested his forehead against hers. She really was going to end up killing herself one of these day's doing things like this.

Amy awoke a short distance away at the same time that Rory opened his eyes. Slowly, she reached forward and took his hand, holding it tightly.

The Dream Lord appeared, standing above them, "So, you choose this world," he remarked, not sounding as smug or mocking as he usually would have, "Well done. You got it right," the Hatter's eyes finally opened, looking sleepy and confused, "And with only seconds left," he continued, "Fair's fair. Let's warm you up," he stepped over to the console and began flickering switches, and all the lights flared into life as power was restored. He moved back over to them, "I hope you enjoyed your little fictions. It all came out of your imagination," his smirk returned as the room began warming, "So I'll leave you to pounder on that. I have been defeated," he shook his head, hanging his head, "I shall withdraw. Farewell".

And with that, he vanished.

The Doctor slowly struggled back onto his feet, pulling the Hatter up with him, but as she stood, her legs gave way under her and she toppled forward into him. He managed to catch her and held her closer to him, kissing the top of her head as he felt her shivering, practically hearing her teeth chattering, "Shh, it's okay," he murmured to her, rubbing her back, trying to warm her, "I've got you," he sighed heavily, trying to sound annoyed, but his concern for her slipped through, "I told you to keep the blanket on".

"You…you needed it…more…" the Hatter said shakily, struggling to keep her eyes open with just how cold she felt, even with the console room starting to warm, "Besides, when…when have…I ever done…as I'm…told?" she tried to give him a smile, but she wasn't sure if she managed to. Her face was numb from the cold, making it hard to feel anything.

He sighed heavily and shook his head, holding her tighter to him. She was dangerously cold, no wonder her eyes were dropping and she couldn't stand. He was impressed that she could still form coherent sentences. Carefully, he picked her up, and stepped over to one of the jump seats, lightly sitting her down before he pulled the blanket off his head and wrapped it tightly around her. She was so cold that she didn't even try to protest.

"Hatter, don't go to sleep," he said firmly, lightly pushed her hair back from her pale, slightly blue face, "I know you're tired, but if you sleep…" he trailed off, swallowing thickly.

"I...know, sweetheart," she mumbled, her head falling onto her shoulder, too tired to hold it up anymore, "Stop…fussing. You…know I…hate people…fussing over…me".

He couldn't help but smile at that, having heard her say the same thing hundreds of times before. He kissed the top of her head one last time and turned around, stepping over to the controls, starting to hit buttons and pull levers, trying to break through the ice.

"Something happened…" Rory shivered as Amy moved closer to him, "I…" he frowned, looking confused, "What happened to me? I…" Amy grabbed him suddenly and hugged him tightly, making him blink, "Oh!" he exclaimed slightly, surprised by the contact, and hugging her back, "Oh, right. This is good. I am liking this. Was it something I said?" he asked as she slowly drew back, "Could you tell me what it was so I can use it in emergencies, and maybe birthdays?"

The Time Rotor started up again and the engines sounded, catching there attention as they looked over to see the Doctor working at the controls, "What are we doing now?" Amy questioned.

"Me?" the Doctor focused on the controls, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, "I'm going to blow up the TARDIS".

"What?" Rory gaped at him, his eyes widening, before his head snapped around to look at the Hatter.

"It's fine," the Hatter assured them tiredly, waving her hand weakly at them before letting it fall back into her lap.

"Notice how _helpful_ the Dream Lord was?" the Doctor commented, moving around to the frozen keyboard, and looking back over to them, "Okay, there was misinformation, red herrings, malice, and I could have done without the limerick," he made a face as he thought of the song, Amy and Rory stood, still looking very confused, "But he was very keen to make us choose between dream and reality".

The TARDIS began shaking and a red glow started coming off the controls as the Doctor laughed, grabbing a hold of the console to keep his balance, while Amy and Rory stumbled before doing the same thing. The Hatter sighed and grabbed the bar behind her chair, holding onto it as tightly as she could.

"What are you doing?" Amy demanded, shouting over the noise of all the shaking.

"The Dream Lord conceded!" Rory called to him, his eyes wide with fear, "This isn't the dream!"

"Of course it is!" the Hatter said loudly, her face breaking into a small smile.

Amy shook her head, "Stop him!" she cried to Rory as they tried to move around the console towards the Doctor.

"Stars burning cold?" the Doctor ignored them, scoffing, "Do me a favour!" he shook his head, pushing Rory's hands off him, "The Dream Lord has no power over the real world. He was offering us a choice between two dreams!"

"How do you know that?" Amy frowned at him.

He meet her eyes, "Because I know who he is!"

He pulled a lever, making the TARDIS explode.

…

The Doctor and the Hatter leaned against the TARDIS console, looking down at the Doctor's open palm as they examining something. Amy and Rory entered, stepping down the steps from the top level of the console.

"Welcome back to reality," the Hatter flashed them a grin as she noticed them, raising her eyebrows, feeling quite cheerful now that everything was over and done with, "I assume that you have a few questions?"

They moved closer to them and Amy peered at the Doctor's open palm to see some sort of glittering specks sitting in his hand, "Er…what's that?" she asked, nodding to the specks.

"A speck of psychic pollen from the candle meadows of Karass don Slava," the Doctor replied, using his finger tips to lightly move the specks around his palm.

"It's probably been hanging around for a while," the Time Lady remarked, tilting her head thoughtfully, "I think we had a panic there once…" she trailed off, shrugging, "Anyway, it must have fallen in the Time Rotor, warmed up, and thus, induced a dream state for us all".

The Doctor walked down the steps and over to the front of the TARDIS doors, pulling them open, and lightly blowing the specks out into space, watching them for a moment before closing the doors, and turning back around to face them.

"So that was the Dream Lord, then?" Rory questioned as the Doctor rubbed his hands and made his way back up to them, "Those little specks".

"No, no," the Doctor shook his head, frowning at him as he wrapped an arm around the blonde, "No, sorry, wasn't it obvious?" Amy and Rory simply looked at him blankly, "The Dream Lord was me," they blinked, staring at him, "The psychic pollen, it's a mind parasite. It feeds on everything dark in you, gives it a voice, turns it against you," he smiled a little grimly, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "I'm nine hundred and seven, it had a lot to go on".

"But why didn't it feed on us, too?" Amy frowned, looking between them, "And why didn't it feed on the Hatter?"

The Hatter shrugged, "Luck, I suppose," she said, shaking her head, "We'll probably never know why it didn't pick me, and as for feeding off you two…" she laughed, reaching forward to pat their arms, "It would have starved to death instantly trying to feed off you two".

"We choose our friends with great care," the Doctor added, smiling at them, "Otherwise, the Hatter would be left with only me, and you know how that works out".

"I would eventually have to kill him," the Time Lady remarked in a mock sigh before giving him a wink, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek, "Even if he is a sweetheart".

Amy continued to frown at them, her eyes coming to rest on the Doctor, "But all those things he said about you," she began, eyeing him almost sadly, "You don't think any of that's true?"

The Doctor didn't answer, avoiding their eyes.

"Of course he doesn't," the Hatter told them quickly, knowing perfectly well that she was lying. The Dream Lord wouldn't have said those things unless he had thought them at least once. She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck, "And if he ever did…" she gave him a pointed look, "Then he would be sorely mistaken. First off, how could I possibly not love all your tawdry quirks?" she grinned at him, "They're very amusing and among one of the reasons why I fell in love with you. Secondly, the old girl is brilliant. That's all that needs saying. Thirdly, I happen to like your hair _very_ much…" she gave him a sly wink, making him smile, "Fourthly, how could I possibly not love the bow tie and bracers?" she reached up to straight his bow tie as she spoke, "And the tweed suits this you very well. Fifthly, K-9 painted _any_ colour would be brilliant, just as long as he can still beat you at chess. And lastly…." her smile turned soft, touching his cheek, "Regardless of what you might think, there has not been a single second of our marriage that I have regrated. I love you, sweetheart, and one of the best things to have happened to me was marrying you, because you are my Universe".

The Doctor broke into a broad smile, looking beyond happy as he pulled her into a deep kiss, that didn't last very long, as they were both smiling and laughing too much, "You're my Universe, too," he whispered to her, hugging her tightly to him.

She laughed, snuggling her face into his neck, grateful that he wasn't as ticklish as she was in his neck. After a moment, they let go of each other, and turned back to Amy and Rory, the red head smiled softly at them, enjoying seeing how truly happy they were with each other.

"Ah, Amy," the Time Lady cleared her throat, giving her a pointed look as she noticed how thoughtful Rory looked, "I do believe that Rory has something on his mind, and since it's a very important question that will change the rest of his life, I think you ought to give him your full attention".

"Yeah…" Rory nodded, turning to Amy as the Time Lords stepped around the console, giving them some privacy, "Actually, yeah".

"There it is!" the Doctor grinned, pointing a finger at him.

He focused on Amy, "Because what I don't get is, you blew up the TARDIS, that stopped that dream, but what stopped the Leadworth dream?" he asked, frowning.

Amy cleared her throat nervously, "We crashed the camper van," she informed him.

"Oh, right," he continued to frown, "I don't remember that bit".

"No, you weren't there. You were already…"

"Already what?"

"Dead," she forced herself to say, looking pained, "You died in that dream. Mrs Poggit got you".

Rory still looked confused. The Hatter struggled to hold back a sigh, rolling her eyes as she listened from the other side of the console, "Okay…" he said slowly, "But how did you know it was a dream?" he questioned, "Before you crashed the van, how did you know you wouldn't die".

"I didn't," Amy admitted quietly.

He stared at her for a long moment, his mouth hanging open, "Oh".

"Yeah," she smiled slightly.

A smile of his own spread across his face as he stepped forward and took her hands, "Oh!" he laughed, looking delighted.

"Yeah, 'oh,'" she started laughing, too, looking down at the floor, embarrassed.

Rory leaned forward and kissed her, Amy quickly returned the kiss, while the Time Lords stood back, watching with soft smiles on their faces, very pleased to see that Amy and Rory relationship was back on track, even better than before.

"So…" the Doctor remarked after a moment, clapping his hands happily, "Well then, where now?" a look of realisation crossed his face as he glanced at the Hatter as Amy and Rory simply held each other, "Or should we just pop down to the swimming pool for a few lengths?"

"You owe me a game of Marco Polo," the Hatter reminded him, nudging his side, shaking her head, "The last time we played you cheated".

"I didn't cheat!"

"I saw you peeking!"

Rory pulled back from Amy slightly, still looking delighted, "I don't know," he interrupted them, grinning broadly, "Any where's good for me. I'm happy anywhere," he looked back to Amy, "It's up to Amy this time. Amy's choice".

The Doctor clapped his hands and whirled back around to the controls, setting to work on them, when he looked down at his reflection to find the Dream Lord smirking back at him, making him freeze. The Hatter, noticing something wrong, stepped beside him and wrapped an arm around him.

"Can you…" he began to ask, but stopped suddenly as he looked back down to see his reflection back to normal.

"Sweetheart, how about that swim?" the Time Lady said brightly, trying to distract him as she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door leading to the rest of the time machine. She threw him a cheeky wink, "I'll wear the red two piece".

All thoughts of the Dream Lord faded from his mind and the Hatter soon found herself being the one pulled along as she laughed. She knew that they would have to talk about it later, she had told him that she would tell him everything that happened while she had been stuck with the Dream Lord, but right now, a little distraction couldn't hurt.

 _ **I did think about making the Hatter pregnant in the dream world with Amy, just for the fun of her complaining about getting a hormonal whiplash, but I decided against it in the end. I couldn't see her or the Doctor killing themselves in that world if that had been the case.**_

 _ **Next chapter, Classic Who references, mainly from the Third Doctor's era. The Hatter isn't very fond of mines, and what's this about a formal complaint? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **Well, here's that update you wanted, I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for the review :)**_


	15. Chapter 15 The Hungry Earth, Part 1

_**The Hungry Earth, Part 1**_

"Behold…" the Doctor cried joyfully as he flung the TARDIS doors open, glancing back to Amy, Rory, and the Hatter as they gathered around him, the human's looking excited, "Rio!"

They stepped out excitedly…only to find themselves standing in a churchyard with numerous graves scattered around before them and a slight chill in the air, not at all suitable weather for shorts like Amy was wearing, having expected a warmer climate.

"Nah uh," Amy shook her head, hugging her jacket closer to herself.

"Not really getting the sunshine carnival vibe," Rory agreed, casting his eyes around the churchyard.

The Hatter laughed and pattered their backs as she stepped forward, "Yes, it would appear that we've gone a _little_ off course, like usual," she remarked, before shrugging, "Still, those are more often the best adventures".

"And the most dangerous," the Doctor added, stepping beside her, smiling.

"Well…yes," she inclined her head toward him, still smiling, "You do have a good point there…" a small frown crossed her face, replacing her smile as she noticed something…off about the place, "That's not right," she looked at the Doctor, "Do you feel that?"

He began bouncing on the spot, frowning down at the ground, "Ooh, what is that?" he wondered aloud, "Ground feels strange," he looked back to Amy and Rory, who were simply looking at him and blonde, not seeming the slightest bit concerned. Amy looked more sulky then anything. He shook his head, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, sighing, "Just us".

"Hang on…" the Hatter grabbed his hand, catching sight of something else that was odd a short distance away. She nodded over to it, "How very strange…"

"What's strange?" Rory asked, looking at their backs, confused.

"Stop trying to distract us," Amy moved closer to them, rolling her eyes, "We're in the wrong place, the Hatter even said so…" but the Time Lords ignored her as they ran passed her, heading around to the other side of the churchyard, while she and Rory hurried after them, "It's freezing and I've dressed for Rio," she called after them, huffing slightly in annoyance when they didn't react, "We are not stopping here," the Time Lords knelt on the ground and picked up a handful of funny blue grass that seemed to be growing in patches all over the graveyard, examining it carefully. She sighed, "Hatter, Doctor!" she tried, but once again they ignored her, "You listening to me? It's a _graveyard_! You promised a beach!"

"Write a formal complaint if it makes you feel better," the Time Lady told her absently, her eyes fixed on the blue grass she had plucked from the ground, examine each piece carefully, "It used to help my Second regeneration when dealing with the Time Lords, though, I should warn you that it's highly likely we won't read it".

"Blue grass," the Doctor muttered thoughtfully, standing up as he continued to eye the pieces of grass he had plucked. He paused and looked out over the rest of the graveyard before them, eyeing the blue patches scattered around between the headstones, "Patches of it all over the graveyard," the Hatter stood as he glanced back to Amy and Rory, "So, Earth, 2020-ish, ten years in your future, wrong continent for Rio, I'll admit," he smiled slightly at them, tucking the pieces of grass inside his pocket to look at more later, "But it's not a massive overshoot".

"Could have been worse," the Hatter agreed, nodding along with him, "It was probably a good thing I helped pilot the old girl, otherwise we might have ended up even further away".

Amy frowned as she looked off into the distance at something, "Why are those people waving at us?" she questioned.

They followed her gaze to find two figures standing on top of a hill in the distance, appearing to be waving at them. The Hatter narrowed her eyes at them, tilting her head, "No, you don't think…" she trailed off, the corner of her mouth twitching as she looked at the Doctor.

The Doctor reached inside his pocket, "Can't be…" he murmured, withdrawing a pair of binoculars.

Rory began to wave at the couple, but Amy lightly hit his hand down, "Don't," she warned him quietly, not liking how two strangers were waving at them in the future.

He raised the binoculars to his eyes and broke into a broad grin, "It is!" he cheered a moment later, looking slightly surprised as he glanced at Amy and Rory beside him, handing the binoculars to the blonde to see, too, "It's you two!"

"No, we're here," Rory shook his head at him as Amy laughed, looking delighted, "How can we be up there?"

"It's ten years in your future," the Hatter reminded them, smiling at the look on their faces, "I expect that you came back to relive the old days. That's what you humans do".

"You're so nostalgic," the Doctor nodded, smiling fondly at Amy and Rory, tucking the binoculars back inside his pocket as the blonde handed them to him.

Amy's eyes winded as she realised something, glancing at Rory, "We're _still_ together in in _ten_ years?"

"No need to sound so surprised," Rory remarked, leaning closer to her, rolling his eyes slightly as he looked at the Time Lords. The Hatter couldn't help but smile, knowing that before the Dream Lord had happened, he would have been offended and upset. It really did prove just how much more confident he had grown in his relationship with Amy.

"Hey, let's go and talk to them!" she suggested excitedly, turning to him, "We can say 'hi,' to future us. How cool is that?" she grabbed his hand and began to drag him off.

"Er, no," the Doctor quickly cut in, making them stop, and look back to him, "Best not," he continued, shaking his head, "Really best not. These things get complicated very quickly, and…oh, look!" he suddenly caught sight of a large drill at the bottom of the hill, his eyes lighting up, "Big mining thing," he looked at the Hatter, "Oh, I love a big mining thing!"

"Sweetheart, are you forgetting how many times something has gone wrong when it comes to humans and mines?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, quickly glancing at Amy and Rory, "Ah, no offence intended. Let's just say that we have a bit of a history when it comes to mines…oh, and little country villages. Also, maypoles in country villages with strange churches".

"That was one time".

"We were almost burnt as witches!"

"That was the Master's fault," the Doctor tried to argue.

"Like that makes a difference, Doctor," the Time Lady shook her at him.

"Oh, come on!" he broke into another large smile, grabbing her hand, "Cheer up. This is way better than Rio!" he said pointedly to Amy and Rory, "Rio doesn't have a big mining thing".

"We're not going to have a look, are we?" Amy asked, groaning slightly, realising that she was never going to get to Rio at this rate, not to mention the fact there her legs were freezing.

"Let's go and have a look!" he continued brightly, ignoring Amy and Rory's less than thrilled expressions, heading off down the slope. The Hatter let go of his hand, casting the drill in the distance a wary look, "Come on, let's see what they're doing!" he called back to them.

The blonde sighed, watching him go, "Oh, I have a bad feeling about this," she muttered to herself. While she was quite curious to know just what the mine was doing, she couldn't help but feel just a little bit nervous about the whole thing and even more surprisingly, a part of her was dreading going anywhere near it.

Rory frowned after the Doctor, "If he can't get us to Rio, how's he ever going to get us home?" he turned to Amy.

The Hatter gave herself a sharp shake and looked back to them, giving them a small smile, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," she told them, shrugging, "I'll lock him in the bathroom if it comes to that. Besides, he's improved quite a bit in his driving skills since his first companions".

"What happened to them?" Amy questioned her, looking curious.

"He got them home eventually with the help of the Daleks time machine, though, they were two years late," she answered, amused. She decided to leave the part in which the Doctor had basically called them suicidal fools out and how he had only reluctantly helped show them how to work the machine. Somehow, she didn't think that would inspire a lot of confidence, but then again, he was quite a different man back then.

"Two years?" Rory exclaimed, looking alarmed, his head snapping around to look at Amy.

Amy, not appearing overly concerned, simply pattered his arm, "Did you not see, over there?" she nodding over towards the hill that they had seen their future selves waving at them, shrugging, "It all works out fine".

He frowned slightly, "After everything we've seen, we just drop back into our old lives, the nurse and the kissogram?" he glanced at the Hatter, who tilted her head thoughtfully.

That hadn't been the case with her companions, Max had become a school teacher and Alice a writer, Tommy had gone on to become a director for the BBC, while Katie and Michael worked together as private detectives, specialising in investigating alien activity, after Michael had left Scotland Yard, and Lily had become a doctor, having been a nurse, dabbling part time with Unit. It was the same with the Doctor's companions, most of them had gone on to further or change their own careers after their travels had ended, though, the Hatter had always thought that Romana would enter into politics.

"I guess," Amy said slowly, before shrugging, slightly surprised with how unconcerned she actually was by the idea of living a normal life with Rory. She shook her head and moved to follow after the Doctor's retreating figure, "He's getting away," she grabbed Rory's arm to pull him along.

"Hang on," Rory stopped her quickly, making her turn back around to face him, "What are you doing with that?" he pointed at her engagement ring on her finger as the Hatter raised her eyebrows, wondering what the issue was.

"Engagement ring!" Amy grinned at him, "I thought you liked me wearing it".

"Amy! You could lose it! Cost…" he paused, eyeing the two women as they raised their eyebrows at him, the Hatter growing amused, "…a lot of money, that!" he finished.

The Hatter laughed, patting his arm, "Nice save," she commented quietly to him.

"Hmm," Amy sighed slightly, slipping the ring off, just to humour him as she handed it to him, "Spoilsport. You don't see the Doctor making the Hatter take her rings off," she complained, gesturing to the Time Lady.

"He wouldn't dare," the Time Lady informed them, flashing them a bright smile as she held up her hand, wiggling her fingers, watching fondly as her engagement ring sparkled even more so then the Earth diamonds on her wedding band, seeing as it was a Whitepoint Star, "These rings stay on my finger unless I'm forced to remove them. Not even the Doctor could get them off me now, I've grown rather fond of watching them sparkle in the light".

Rory eyed them, his eyes widening slightly, looking quite impressed, "Isn't he worried you might lose them?" he asked.

"To be perfectly honest, I think he's still rather shocked to see them on my finger in the first place. I still catch him looking at them as if he's amazed to see me wearing them, and we've been married for almost three years and we were engaged for a little over a year".

He laughed as Amy smiled, both having noticed the Doctor eyeing the Hatter's rings a few times before, at least now it made sense. He shook his head, looking down at Amy's ring in his hand, "You two go on," he said to them, turning to head back to the TARDIS, "I'll catch you three up".

"You'll be needing my key to get inside, we still need to get you a key," the Hatter remarked, following after Rory, glancing back to Amy, "You go ahead, we'll be right behind you".

Amy nodded and hurried off down the slope, "Doctor!" she called after him, disappearing from sight.

"You didn't have to come with me," Rory glanced at the Time Lady walking beside him, heading back around to the other side of the church, "You could have just given me your key".

The Hatter smiled at him, looking amused as she reached inside her pocket, withdrawing her TARDIS key that hung on a small keychain as they reached the time machine, "Rory, where my key goes, I go," she replied, inserting the key into the lock, "I once let one of my companions borrow my key and ended up being locked out of my own TARDIS. I had to call the Doctor to come and help, all because my companion had gotten drunk and dropped my key," she paused, tilting her head, "I think that was also the night I came up with the rule of companions are only allowed two alcoholic drinks," she shrugged, pushing the doors open, stepping inside, "Luckily, Max's hangover the next morning made up for the embarrassment of having to call the Doctor for help".

Rory dashed up to the console, while the Hatter waited by the doors, watching as he put Amy's engagement ring in its box, smiling fondly down at it as he closed the lid and sat it on the console, before hurrying back over to the doors. The Hatter, trying hard not to laugh, opened the door and stepped out, only to stop short upon finding a brunette woman standing there in a pink coat, obviously waiting with a young, dark haired boy.

The woman smiled at her as Rory stepped out beside the Hatter, "Well, that was quick," she commented, looking mildly surprised.

Rory and the Hatter exchanged a look, "Was it?" he said slowly, eyeing the woman, confused.

"It's great that you came," she continued.

The boy moved around the TARDIS, looking at it curiously, "Bit retro," he nodded to the TARDIS, looking back to the Hatter and Rory, growing excited, "What is it, portable crime lab?"

"Well…" the Hatter began, thinking quickly as she glanced back to the time machine, "Yes, I suppose you could call it that…" she turned back to the boy, giving him a smile.

"Ambrose Northover," the woman introduced himself, reaching forward, shaking their hands, "I was the one who called," she informed them, letting go of their hands, "I run meals on wheels for the whole valley. This is my son, Elliot," she nodded to the boy, who was running his hands on the doors of the TARDIS.

"Lovely to meet you," the Time Lady said brightly, casting the boy a slightly nervous look out of the corner of her eye, hoping he wouldn't notice the slight vibration of the TARDIS. Hopefully, if he did, he would just assume that was to do with the so called 'crime lab'.

Elliot stepped back from the TARDIS, looking Rory and the blonde up and down, "Where's your uniforms?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Um…" Rory looked quickly to the Hatter.

"Don't be cheeky, Elliot," Ambrose cut in sternly before they could make up an excuse, turning back to them, "They're plain clothes. CID, is it?" the Hatter opened her mouth to reply, but she went on, shaking her head, "Anyway, it's over here," she turned and began to lead them off down towards the other end of the graveyard, Elliot hurrying after her.

Rory stared after her, looking unsure just what to do, but the Hatter simply shrugged, moving to follow, "Shouldn't we be catching up to Amy and the Doctor?" he questioned worriedly, lowering his voice as he trailed behind her.

"Oh, I'm sure they will be fine without us for a few minutes," the Hatter replied, waving his concern off, feeling quite intrigued and excited, "Besides, I'm curious as to what's going on".

"But…"

She sighed slightly and grabbed his hand, half pulling him along, "Come along, Rory," she said calmly, a hint of exasperation entering her voice. She had almost forgotten how difficult humans could be in situation like these, "I know exactly what I'm doing, so just follow my lead".

They followed Ambrose and Elliot down towards where a large tree was over shadowing a grave, but as they reached it, they discovered the grave was open and empty. The Hatter tilted her head curiously down at it as she stepped closer to the edge of the grave, wondering just what was going on. Grave robbers?

"It's a family plot, see," Ambrose explained to them, standing back from the grave, hands in her pocket, while Elliot balanced on the edge of wooden planks that had been placed around the edge of the grave, "My Aunt Gladys died six years ago," she continued, "Her husband, Alun, died a few weeks back. He lived in the house two doors down," she shrugged, smiling sadly, "There's not many of us left up here now".

"Mum, they don't care about that!" Elliot rolled his eyes, glancing at Rory and the Hatter, nodding down to the empty grave, "They want to know about the dead bodies".

"If you wouldn't mind, Mrs Northover," the Hatter said politely, trying hard not to smile at the boy. He reminded her a little of a younger Doctor, just a little bit.

"Yes," Ambrose said quickly, giving them an apologetic smile, "Sorry," she turned her attention back on the grave, stepping closer to the edge, "Well, they always wanted to be buried in the same plot, together. But when we went to bury Uncle Alun, Gladys wasn't there," she shook her head, the Hatter frowned deeply, "Gone. Body, coffin, _everything_ ".

Rory stared at her, "What?" he questioned, a frown crossing his face as he looked at the Time Lady, but she was focused on the grave, eyeing it intently.

"The mad thing is, on the surface, the grave was untouched. No signs of it having been messed with".

"Goodness, this is just getting more and more interesting," the Hatter murmured, more to herself then the others. She carefully edged closer to the grave, crouching down, "And you are quite sure that no one had touched this grave since your aunt died?" she asked, looking back up and over to Ambrose.

"Yes," she nodded, frowning as she glanced back down into the grave, "But when they dug it open, the body was gone," she shook her head, looking in-between Rory and the Hatter, "How is that possible?"

The Hatter stood, brushing her knees down as she stepped over to Ambrose, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We don't know, not yet," she said to her, giving her a comforting smile as she meet her eyes, "But we will do everything that we can to find out what happened to your loved ones. I promise you that".

….

The Hatter climbed down into the grave, wanting to make sure that it was safe before she allowed Rory to climb down, too. She was quite grateful that this regeneration had chosen boots, since she doubted her old Mary Jane's would have done well with the puddle of muddy water at the bottom of the grave. While the Time Lady examined the walls, Rory jumped up and down, just like the Doctor would have done before pausing, looking around with a sigh, feeling completely clueless.

"Do you want sugar?" Elliot asked as he looked down into the grave to them, having gone to help his Mother.

Rory looked up, blinking at him, "Sorry?"

"In your tea," he clarified, "Mum's asking".

"No," he shook his head, "Just white for me, thanks".

"Two sugars in mine, please," the Hatter told him cheerfully, glancing away from the graves wall, "And a drop of milk".

Elliot nodded, but made no move to leave as he stuck his hands inside his pockets, "There's only one explanation, as far as I can see," he remarked, balancing on the edge of the wooden planks.

The Time Lady smiled up at him, curious to know just what he made of the entire thing. Children saw thing's so differently than adults, just one of the reasons why she always paid attention to just what they had to say on a subject. Their own thoughts were more often than not quite close to the truth, she had found, "Oh, yes?" she questioned encouragingly, "What do you think is going on?"

"The graves eat people," he answered, making Rory give him a startled look, but he hardly seemed to even notice. The Hatter's smile widened, looking quite impressed, "Devour them whole, leaving no trace".

Rory frowned at him, "Not sure about that…" he began.

"They didn't steal the body from above," he cut across him reasonably, "They couldn't have got in from the sides," he shrugged, "Only thing is, they get in from underneath".

"Not very likely, though".

"Oh, I wouldn't be so quick, Rory," the Hatter commented, tilting her head thoughtfully up at the boy, "The logic is certainly correct, you just need to use a bit of imagination and stop thinking like an adult," she absently pattered Rory's arm as he stared at her, looking surprised, but her attention was focused on Elliot.

Elliot broke into a small smile, looking pleased, "'When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth,'" he quoted, making the blonde laugh, giving him an approving look.

"Sorry?" Rory asked, looking confused.

"Sherlock Homes," he replied, shrugging again, "Got the audiobook," Rory nodded in understand and he continued, looking very serious, "The graves round here eat people".

And with that, he walked off.

Rory shivered, glancing at the Hatter, "You're not serious about the graves eating people, are you?" he asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

The Hatter gave him a comforting smile, "I'm afraid that I am," she said grimly, placing her hand on the surface of the graves wall again, "After all, it is the only thing that makes sense. This entire place seems to be connected to something going on beneath the ground…" she trailed off, a deep frown crossing her face as she moved closer to the wall, pressing her ear against it.

"What's wrong?" he stepped closer to her, noticing her reaction.

"The vibrations have stopped," she muttered, looking even more worried as she straightened, brushing the side of her cheek against her shoulder to remove any dirt, "Wait…no, they haven't," she shook her head, eyeing the wall, "They're still going, only…they sound different. Another drill?"

"Is that good or bad?"

"I'm not sure, depends," she said slowly, her hand reaching up to toy with her bow tie as she looked back to him, "And why do I have the strangest feeling that something bad has happened and every instinct is telling me that the Doctor's involved?" she sighed, shaking her head as she began to try and climb out of the grave, "Oh, I really can't leave him alone for five minutes".

Once the two of them had climbed out of the grave, the Time Lady needing, much to her annoyance, a hand to pull herself up and out of the grave. This regenerations upper body strength really was terrible and she was quite glad that the Doctor hadn't been there to witness it, not only for the fact that he would have loved playing the dashing hero, as if his ego needed anymore of that, but also because he would have teased her for it.

They hurried down towards the slope towards the drill and as they reached the bottom, they came across a set of houses, most of them appearing to be quite run down, as if they hadn't been lived in for a while, at least they did from the back, when suddenly, there was a whirring noise overhead and something bright red shot across the sky. The Hatter came to a skidding stop, almost causing Rory to run into her back as she stared up at the sky.

"Oh, dear," she murmured, reaching inside her pocket and withdrawing a bright green Frisbee. She began to roll her shoulder as she flexed her right wrist, "Right, let's see if I've still got it…" she took a moment to aim before she shot the disk up towards the sky, quickly shielding her eyes, watching it sail higher and higher, until…it exploded, sending a ripple of red energy across the sky. She sighed warily, glancing at Rory, "Yes, I thought I felt the temperature rise just a little bit. It's a force field".

She didn't wait for Rory to respond before dashing off, running around the side of the house at the end of the row, leaving him to hurry after her. She didn't even pause as she noticed Ambrose and Elliot running out of one of the houses as she rounded the corner, quickly spotting the Doctor standing in the middle of the road before the houses, holding his sonic up towards the sky, while a man and woman stood a short distance from him, the women wheeling a wheelbarrow with equipment in it as the man carried more equipment under his arm.

"Doctor!" Rory called, catching sight of him as the Time Lady ran to his side, "Something weirds going on here, the graves are eating people…"

"Not now, Rory!" the Doctor told him quickly, still scanning the force field, glancing at the Hatter. A look of relief crossed his face as he looked at her, but he quickly turned his attention back towards the sky, "Energy barricade. Invisible to the naked eye," he lowered the sonic, "We can't get out and no-one from the outside world can get in".

"What?" Rory exclaimed, staring at the Time Lords, before shaking his head, "Okay, what about the TARDIS?"

"The what?" the woman with the wheelbarrow asked, frowning over at him.

"I'm afraid that wouldn't work, either," the Hatter informed them, sighing slightly, "The energy pattern would mess with the circuits too much, though, with some time it might work…"

"But we've only got nine and a half minutes," the Doctor cut in, checking his watch.

"Nine and a half minutes to what?" Rory questioned him, the Hatter looked to him too, wondering exactly what had happened while she and Rory had been busy in the graveyard.

"We're trapped," the woman answered, while the Doctor focused on scanning the force field, "And something's burrowing towards the surface".

"Any idea's on just what that might be?" the Hatter frowned, before pausing, flashing the man and woman a friendly smile, "And do forgive me, I'm the Hatter," she gave them a little wave, "Hello!"

"This is my wife," the Doctor added, casting the Time Lady a fond smile as he spoke, "Hatter, this is Tony and Nasreen," the two nodded to her as he frowned, turning his attention back on the sky, "And not sure yet, strange heat readings. Dual hot and cold".

"Interesting," the Time Lady said thoughtfully, nodding slowly, "So, something is heading towards the surface and strange hot and cold heat readings. Anything else I ought to know about?"

"There's a network of tunnels around the drills main tunnel. And whoever they are, they've bio-programed the Earth".

"Bio-programing?" she raised her eyebrows, looking surprised, "Well, that it very curious. Whoever they are, at least we know that they have advance technology…well, advance for this day and age".

Rory frowned, looking around, "Where's Amy?" he turned back to the Doctor. The Hatter blinked and looked around, only just realising that the red head was no were in sight.

"Actually…" the Hatter started to grow more and more concerned, looking at the Doctor, "That's a very good question".

The Doctor looked back to him, a grim look crossing his face as he grabbed the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "Get inside the church," he ordered them, picking up a piece of equipment that appeared to be a computer, while the others hurried to do as he said. He began to follow them, "Rory, I'll get her back".

"What do you mean, 'get her back?'" Rory demanded, alarmed and very confused, "Where's she gone?"

"She was taken. Into the Earth".

"How?" he asked, still looking very confused as the Hatter sighed heavily, closing her eyes, "Why didn't you stop it?" his voice grew accusing.

"I tried," the Doctor told him, sitting the computer down and stepping closer to him, trying to make him understand, "I promise, I tried".

"Well, you should have tried harder!"

"Rory, please," the Hatter let go of the Doctor's hand, moving closer to Rory, trying to give him a calming look, "I promise you, we will get Amy back," she said firmly, meeting his eyes, "I promise you that we will do everything to return her, and try to keep everyone else here safe".

Rory shook his head angrily and the Doctor sighed heavily, "Come on, please," he tried, "We need you alongside us".

Rory looked at them for a long moment, his jaw tense with anger, before he reluctantly nodded. The Hatter went to pat his arm, but thought better of it, not wishing to upset him anymore then he already was as the Doctor walked back over to the computer, picking it up, and they headed back towards the church.

….

The Time Lords, Nasreen, and Tony were busy setting equipment up in the church, while Rory, Elliot, and Ambrose watched them work. The church was very old and looked as if it hadn't had any maintenances done to it in years, apparently used more for storage as there was crates and junk, old chairs, even a few lamps scattered around the sides of the room, leaving only a small space in the middle to move and set things up in.

"So we can't get _out_ , we can't contact _anyone_ ," Ambrose remarked, almost scoffing, "And something, the something that took my husband, is coming up through the Earth".

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, glancing around at the others as he moved closer to the woman, "And if we move quickly enough, we can be ready".

"No, stop," she said firmly, pointing a finger at him, "This has gone far enough," she held her arms out in frustration as the Doctor returned to setting the equipment up, "What is this?"

"He's telling the truth, love," Tony told her, his voice gentle as he glanced over his shoulder to her.

"Come on! It's not the first time we've had no mobile or phone signals. Reception's always rubbish".

"Look, Ambrose," Nasreen began, looking over to her, "We saw the Doctor's friend get taken, okay? You saw the lightening in the sky," she gestured to herself, laughing slightly, "I have _seen_ the impossible today, and the only person who's made any sense of it, for _me_ , is the Doctor".

"Him?" she exclaimed incredulously, nodding over to the Doctor, who was kneeling on the ground.

"Me," the Doctor agreed, leaping back onto his feet.

"Can you get my dad back?" Elliot asked hopefully, making everyone look at the Doctor.

The Hatter dropped the piece of cable she was holding and walked across the room, leaning down so that she was eye level with Elliot, "We will do everything we possibly can to bring your Dad back safely," she assured him, giving him a small, comforting smile, "I promise, and I always keep my promises," she held out her hand, raising an eyebrow, "With your help, of course. Sound like a deal?"

He looked down at her hand and broke into a smile, taking it, "Deal," he shook it.

She grinned, "Good, lad," she straighten, turning around, catching the Doctor's eyes as she did so.

The Doctor smiled softly at her, always having enjoyed watching her interact with kids. She really was a natural at it, though, she did have quite a bit of experience after raising four Time Lords. He gave himself a shake and clapped his hands, stepping back over to Ambrose, "But we need you to trust us and do exactly as we say from this second onwards because we are running out of time," he said to her, eyeing her carefully.

Ambrose looked back to him, swallowing hard, "So tell us what to do".

"Thank you," he said sincerely, moving back into the middle of the room, checking his watch, "We have eight minutes to set up a line of defence," he looked around at them all, talking quickly, "Bring me every phone, camera, every piece of recording or transmitting equipment you can find," the group set to work, while the Time Lords made their way through the churchyard and over to were Rory and Ambrose were setting up cameras around the church, "Every burglar alarm, every movement sensor, every security light," he continued, "I want the whole area covered with sensors," they put the cameras into position and he flashed the sonic at them.

Once they had finished outside the church, the Time Lords headed back inside the church and over to the computers that had been set up, eyeing the screen that showed the heat signature getting closer, traveling up through one of the tunnels.

"Right, we need to be ready for whatever's coming up," he looked over to Elliot, patting his shoulder, "We need a map of the village, marking where the cameras are going".

"I can't do the words," Elliot told them, catching there attention as the Doctor leaned down so that they were eye level, "I'm dyslexic".

"Oh, that's fine," the Hatter smiled brightly at him, giving him a wink, "Thomas Edison was dyslexic, so was Noble Prize winner, Pierre Curie, a physicist, even Agatha Christie and Lewis Carroll, two of the most famous authors had dyslexia".

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded, giving Elliot a smile, "And I can't make a decent meringue and the Hatter's the worst gardener I have ever meet…"

"It was a terrible shame for my Mother," the Time Lady remarked in a mock whisper.

The Doctor's smile widened as Elliot began smiling back at them, "Draw like your life depends on it, Elliot," he told him, and the boy nodded, running off. He straightened and checked his watch, glancing at the Hatter, "Six minutes forty".

The Hatter sighed, resigned, "Let's just hope we're ready".

They stepped over to where Nasreen was eyeing one of the screens, watching as the clock in the corner counted down and the blinking dots of whatever was coming up to the surface moved quickly up one of the tunnels, while Tony stood before another computer, bringing up an overlay of the village for them to see.

"Works in quadrants, every movement sensor and triplight we've got," Tony informed them, pointing at the screen as the Time Lords looked over his shoulder, "If anything moves, we'll know".

The Doctor patter him on his back, "Good, Lad!" he cried, not noticing the strange look he gave him, much to the Hatter's amusement.

They began to make their way back outside, looking around to try and see if there was anything else they could find that might help, when they came across a blue van for Meals on Wheels, parked around the side of the church.

"Ah, this must be Ambrose's van," the Hatter commented, recalling the woman mentioning something to do with Meals on Wheels when they first meet. She tried the driver's door and found it unlocked, quickly leaning inside to see if there was anything useful.

"Oi!" Ambrose called from behind them, making her way over to them, "What're you doing?"

"Resources!" the Doctor replied, not looking away from the van, "Every little helps!"

"Let me guess," the Time Lady began, casting her eyes around the inside of the van, noticing that the back section had been closed off as she straightened, moving around to look at the back of the van, "In the back is the refrigerator for the food, yes?" she questioned, glancing briefly back to the woman.

Ambrose leaned into the front seat of the car, glancing back towards them as she sat a stack of equipment on the seat, "Bit chilly for a hideout, mind".

The Doctor looked back into the van to see a bunch of gardening tools mixed with more equipment, even a shot gun and cricket bat. He frowned down at them, "What are those?" he asked.

She straightened, turning to face them, "Like you say, every little bit helps," she shrugged.

"No!" both Time Lords exclaimed, shaking their heads, looking very serious, "No weapons," the Doctor continued, "It's not the way we do things".

"You said we're supposed to defend ourselves".

"Violence only makes things worse, Ambrose," the Hatter said firmly, meeting the other woman's eyes, "And you are better than that. I know you are just trying to protect your son and family, believe me, I get that, I was a Mother once, too, but this isn't the way to go about it".

The Doctor nodded, stepping closer to the woman, "We're asking nicely," he said, sounding calm, but a hint of warning entered his tone as he went on, "Put them away".

And with that, he took the Hatter's hand and they began to make their way back inside the church, leaving Ambrose beside her van, staring after them. They stepped back inside the church and over to the computers, checking the countdown that showed they only had three minutes and twenty three seconds left, just as Elliot ran back into the room and over to them, proudly holding up the map he had drawn.

The Hatter grinned broadly as she caught sight of it, "Oh, brilliant!" she cheered as the Doctor happily took the picture, flashing the boy his own smile.

"Perfect!" the Doctor added brightly, looking down at the map, "Dyslexia never stopped Da Vinic or Einstein, it's not stopping you".

Elliot smiled at the praise, looking at them curiously as the Time Lady started typing something into the computer before them, "I don't understand what you're going to do," he shook his head.

"Well, the plan works in two phases," the Hatter explained to him, glancing away from the screen to look at him, while the Doctor worked on the computer beside her, "The first part is the sensors and cameras will alert us when something arrives".

"Second, if something does arrive…" the Doctor began, reaching inside his pocket and withdrawing his sonic screwdriver, holding it up for Elliot to see, "We use this to send a sonic pulse through that network device, a pulse which would temporarily incapacitate most things in the Universe".

"Knock 'em out," Elliot nodded, smiling excitedly, "Cool".

The Doctor moved around to the other side of the table and other to another computer, slipping the sonic back inside his pocket, "Lovely place to grow up, round here," he remarked, glancing back over to the boy.

"Suppose," he shrugged, his excited smile fading, "I want to live in the city one day. Soon as I'm old enough, I'll be off".

The Hatter smiled softly, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "Yes, I thought you reminded me of someone," she said, tilting her head, "We were the same way as kids, always dreaming of getting out there".

"Did you get away?" Elliot asked, looking between them.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied.

"After a little while," the Time Lady nodded, remembering the day she had seen the Doctor and Susan off. She didn't regret staying on Gallifrey when they had first left, her children had needed her and now knowing what would happen, she was so glad to have all those memories that she would have missed out on if she had gone with him then. Then, of course, the day had come when she realised that there was no point to staying, her children were all grown up with families of their own and she most certainly wouldn't have stayed with her husband, even if they had still been married at the time, and so she had left.

She did regret that she hadn't spent more time over the centuries on Gallifrey, just visiting it for her own enjoyment, rather than because she had been forced to or because the Doctor had needed her help for some reason. It had been her home, after all, and she had always thought that it was among one of the most beautiful planets she had ever seen. She wished she had made more or an effort with her family, tried harder to get to know her Grandchildren. She had always thought that there would be time for that later, that eventually she would retire there when she was close to the end of her last regeneration, maybe even try to write a book about her past adventures, but that had all changed with the Time War. Even if the Time Lords had won, Gallifrey would never have been the same after all of that.

"Do you ever miss it?" Elliot questioned.

They both froze at the question, their heads snapping up to look at him as the Hatter reached across the table, grabbing the Doctor's hand as he swallowed, "So much," he breathed.

"Is it monsters coming?" the Doctor paused before moving back around the table to him, seeing the fearful look on Elliot's face, "Have you met monsters before?"

"Yeah," he answered, trying to sound confidant.

"You scared of them?"

"No, they're scared of me, but…" he leaned down to the boys eye level, as if about to tell him a secret, having seen the Hatter do the same thing several times before. The Time Lady raised her eyebrows at his back, "They should be scared of the Hatter, especially if they do something to her hat," he said in a mock whisper.

The Hatter struggled not to laugh, lightly nudging the Doctor's side as he straightened, "Cheeky," she muttered fondly, making him smile broadly at her.

"Well, it is the truth, dear," he said softly, shrugging slightly.

Elliot eyed them for a moment, looking worried, "Will you really get my Dad back?"

The Hatter smiled at him reassuringly, "Of course," she said, ruffling his hair, "I did promise, after all".

He nodded, looking less worried as the Time Lords turned their attention back onto the computers, "I left my headphones at home," he realised, and quickly ran out of the room.

The Time Lady paused, watching him for with a small frown, "Shouldn't someone go with him?" she wondered aloud.

"Nah," the Doctor shook his head, not looking concerned, his gaze fixed on the screen, "He'll be fine".

She sighed slightly, unable to stop the feeling that someone ought to go with the boy, before she shook her head, turning back to the screen. His house wasn't very far from the church, she assured herself, he would be fine.

…

With less than a minute left, the Time Lords decided to take one last look around to make sure that everything was in working order, when they spotted Rory setting up the last camera on a gravestone. They walked over to him as he was frowning, looking up at the sky.

"How're you doing?" the Doctor asked him as they reached him, wondering what he was looking at.

"It's getting darker," Rory remarked. They followed his gaze to see black clouds moving across the surface of the force field, growing denser, blocking out the light. He glanced back to them, "How can it be getting dark so quickly?"

"The lights are being shut out from within the barricade," the Hatter stared up at the sky as everything around them grew darker, making it seem like it was the middle of the night, "They're trying to isolate us in the dark, make us less of a threat, which means…"

A loud rumbling sounded and the ground shuddered slightly.

"It's here," the Doctor finished, taking the Hatter's hand.

 _ **I apologise for the wait. I've started a four week program with my new school that will mean that I will have less work to do next year, so I haven't had as much time to spend writing as I would have liked. Also, for any of my readers who live in Paris, or who have friends or family who do, I hope you are all okay and staying as safe as you can in the current situation. Tell me what you thought, please review.**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **Ooh, let's see. For season 6, I'm probably most excited to write 'The Doctor's Wife,' I just can't wait to see how that play's out with the Hatter. Season 7, I loved 'The Power of Three,' but it's probably a tie between 'Journey to The Centre of the TARDIS,' and 'The Name of The Doctor,' I'm also looking forward to writing the Christmas special with Victorian Clara. Season 8, without a doubt would have to be 'Listen,' I just can't wait to write that episode. And lastly, so far for season 9 would probably be 'The Woman Who Lived,' or the second part of 'The Zygone Inversion'. Also, I should mention that I can't wait to start writing 'The Day of The Doctor'. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **It's very hard to pick because season 9 has been so amazing thus far, but I would probably have to say 'The Woman Who Lived'. I don't know why, but I just really loved the idea of the Doctor's companions having someone looking out for them. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (3):**_ _ **I'm actually doing it right now, I try to write a chapter a week for that story. I have 6 chapters already finished for the 'Two Doctors and Hatters,' and I'm guessing that there will be another three, possibly four, depending on if I do an original chapter at the end like with the 'Five Doctors and Hatters,' which I probably will. But we are getting there, just slowly. I'm going to start putting up quotes on my Tumblr very soon. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (4):**_ _ **I understand, I really do, and I hope I haven't come off sounding short or ungrateful at all. If I have, it's nothing to do with you or your suggestions, but due to me writing a response when I've been tired, hence why I've written this response in the morning.**_

 _ **Anyway, onto your review, I hope to try and explore just how the Hatter struggled during that dark period of her life either through a flashback or a one-shot at some point, hopefully soon, once I've found the time to do so. I agree with you, it is time that I start to change the Hatter's personality, but I can't say just what or how that will happen, just that something will happen that will change the Hatter slightly. For instance, she's going to become less likely to throw herself headfirst or be as reckless as she has been, and I have something planned in 'Let's Kill Hitler,' that her past regeneration's would never have threatened to do. Let's just say that she's going to be forced to become more ruthlessly protective then we've seen her thus far, but as I said, I can't say anything more. It**_ _ **will**_ _ **happen, just with a bit more time. Thanks for the review :)**_


	16. Chapter 16 The Hungry Earth, Part 2

_**The Hungry Earth, Part 2**_

As the entire graveyard was thrown into pitch blackness, the only lights coming from the inside of the church, the Time Lords and Rory ran back to the church's door to find Ambrose trying to open the large, wooden door.

"I can't open it!" she called to them, trying to push against it with her shoulder, "It keeps sticking!" the Doctor and the Hatter hurried forward, trying to help her as the ground continued shuddering, "The wood's warped".

The Doctor glanced back over his shoulder to Rory, noticing him standing back, "Any time you want to help!" he told him sarcastically.

"Can't you sonic it?" Rory asked, frowning at them.

"The sonic doesn't do wood," the Hatter informed him, scrunching up her face from the effort of trying to push the door open, "Quite a big design flaw, I'll admit, but we were only kids when we first built it".

"That is rubbish," he shook his head, not looking impressed.

"Oi!" the Doctor cried, looking as if he had just personally insulted him as he whirled around to face him, giving him a sharp look, "Don't diss the sonic!" Rory raised his eyebrows at him, taking a small step back as he suddenly turned to the Hatter, "And you!" he pointed an accusing finger at her, making her sigh, "You're supposed to be on mine and the sonic's side!"

The Time Lady rolled her eyes at him, "Sweetheart, I don't know how to break this to you, but the sonic doesn't have feelings," she said in an overly sweet voice, "It's not the TARDIS".

"So says the woman who practically admitted she would have married her hats if she could have!"

"Oh, not this again? Seriously, some woman have husbands who get jealous about there wives ex's, I have a husband who gets jealous of my hats! You don't hear me complaining about you stroking bits of the TARDIS".

"That's…" he shifted on the spot, looking as if he was regretting starting this conversation, "That's different, dear," he coughed, a faint blush covering his cheeks.

"Oh, yes," she shook her head, rolling her eyes again, " _Completely_ different".

Rory sighed and moved forward to help with the door, managing to force it open as they hurried inside the church, slamming the door shut behind them. A few pieces of junk fell onto the floor as they entered, the Time Lords quickly making their way over to Tony and Nasreen, who were standing by the computers.

"See if we can get a fix," the Doctor remarked as he and the Hatter set to work on the computers, quickly typing as more items began falling down around them, startling the humans, but the Time Lords continued working, trying to narrow down the location that they would be popping up.

Suddenly, the computers sparked violently, forcing everyone to jump back, and the power went out, sending them into darkness. They looked around as the smoke cleared, the lights above them still swinging as the Time Lords moved back to the computers, fiddling with the wires, trying to get them back online.

"No power," Tony announced, checking the meter box off to the side of the room.

"This is debilitate," the Hatter moved back around to the front of the computers, knowing that there was nothing more she or the Doctor could do now.

"What do we do now?" Rory questioned quickly, looking around at them as Tony switched on a torch.

"Nothing," the Doctor shook his head, holding his hands up in frustration as he started pacing, "We've got nothing! They sent an energy surge to wreck our systems".

"Is everyone okay?" he turned to the others, looking around at them through the darkness, "Is anyone hurt?"

"I'm fine," Nasreen replied.

"I'm good," Tony waved him off.

"Me too," Ambrose added quickly.

Another loud rumble sounded, making them jump and look down at the floor as it started shaking even more.

Rory looked at the Time Lords, his eyes widening in alarm, "What was that?" he asked.

"It's like the holes at the drill station," Tony commented, frowning down at the floor as the Time Lords knelt on the floor, pressing their ears against it, listening carefully.

"Is this how they happened?" Nasreen looked over to them.

They continued listening for a moment, "They're almost here," the Hatter told them, sighing heavily as she sat up, and climbing back onto her feet, "It's coming through the final layer of Earth as we speak".

Nasreen stared at them, looking even more worried and alarmed, "What is?"

The Doctor stood, his eyes moving around the room as silence fell, the rumbling and even the shaking stopping completely.

"The banging's stopped," Tony remarked, shining his torch around.

Ambrose suddenly looked around the room, frowning deeply, "Where's Elliot?" she questioned, "Has anyone seen Elliot? Did he come in?" her voice grew fearful as the other's started looking around, too, searching for the boy, while the Hatter's eyes widened, swallowing, "Was he in when the door was shut?" she turned to the Time Lords and Rory, panicking, "Who counted him back in? Who saw him last?"

The Doctor felt his stomach drop as he looked at the Time Lady, guilt written across her face. He took a deep breath, grasping her hand, "We did," he breathed.

Everyone looked at them, and Ambrose moved closer to them, "Where is he?" she asked urgently.

"He…" the Hatter swallowed, feeling guilt wash over her, unable to stand to see the look of fear on Ambrose's face for her son, a look she knew well. She had known that she should have gone with Elliot, every instinct as a Mother told her that she should, but she had ignored it all. She held the Doctor's hand tighter, "He went to get his headphones".

"And you two let him go?" she demanded, staring at them, horrified, "He was out there on his own".

Tony placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her, seeing how distressed she was, when something pounded on the door.

"Mum!" Elliot shouted through the door, making them spin around towards it, "Grandpa Tony! Let me in!"

Ambrose whirled around to face the door, her eyes lighting up in relief at the sound of her son's voice, "Elliot!" she cried, running over to the door, immediately trying to pull it open.

"Let me in!"

"He's out there!" she looked at Tony, who had hurried over to the door, trying to pull it open, before looking back to the others, "Help me!" she called urgently to them.

Everyone ran forward, trying to help as Elliot continued pounding against the door. The Hatter tried to get her finger between the door and the frame, desperately trying to pry it open, unable to stand hearing Elliot and Ambrose's panicked voices.

"Open the door!" Elliot's voice came again, sounding even more fearful as his pounding increased, "Mum! There's something out here!"

"Push, Elliot!" Ambrose encouraged him quickly as they all worked together, trying to get the door open, but even with all of them and Elliot, the door still wouldn't budge, "Push, Elliot! Give it a shove!"

"Mum!" he yelled, sounding very, very afraid.

"Hurry up!"

The pounding on the other side of the door stopped and the Hatter froze, realising that there was something else going on, that something must have caught Elliot's attention to make him stop trying to open the door, while everyone else continued trying to open the door, not seeming to notice.

"Mummy…" Elliot said softly, almost whimpering in fear.

"Come on!" Tony grunted, finally managing to pull the door open, his face scrunched up.

"Elliot!" Ambrose cried, running forward through the door, shoving the door further open as she looked around, only to find that Elliot was nowhere in sight, "Where is he?" she asked worriedly, running out further into the graveyard, looking around desperately as the others followed behind her, "He was here," she shook her head, "He was here! Elliot!" she ran off down the path leading down to the rest of the graveyard.

"Ambrose, don't do running off!" the Doctor called after her.

"Ambrose!" Tony ran after her, the two of them disappearing in the dark and mist hanging in the air.

The Doctor sighed, running a hand down his face, "One day, we'll find someone who actually listens," he grumbled to the Hatter.

The Hatter pattered his arm, "You can hardly blame her, sweetheart," she said sympathetically, understanding just how Ambrose must be feeling, not only with her son now missing, but also her husband, "She's just lost her child, she's desperate".

"Which is what makes me even more nervous," he nodded, keeping his voice low so that Rory and Nasreen couldn't hear him.

The Time Lords exchanged a long look, both agreeing that Ambrose was going to be someone that they would need to keep an eye on, especially now. With that in mind, the two of them dashed off after Tony and Ambrose, using a torch to light their way as they went, Rory following behind them.

"Dad!" Ambrose's voice drifted over to them as they neared, sounding panicked and tearful as Tony fell heavily against a headstone, seeming to be clutching at something on the side of his neck.

"What's happened?" the Hatter asked quickly, realising that something was wrong.

"My Dad's hurt," she told them, trying to help her Father, wrapping an arm around his shoulder's as he grimaced painfully.

The Doctor cast Tony a quick look, "Get him in the church now!" he ordered Ambrose sternly, before turning his attention to looking around, trying to make sure that they weren't about to be ambushed.

"Elliot's gone!" Ambrose cried desperately, looking back and forth between the Time Lords, her eyes full of tears, "They've killed him, haven't they?"

"You can't allow yourself to think that way," the Hatter said gently, stepping closer to her, trying to give her a calming smile, "You have to keep hope, Ambrose, always keep hope. Whoever is behind this, they've chosen to take three people when they could have easily killed them up here on the surface".

She began crying, "Then why have they taken him?"

The Time Lady hesitated, glancing at the Doctor, "We're not entirely sure yet, I'm sorry," she admitted as she turned back to her, inwardly wincing, wishing that she could give Ambrose more information, "Truly, I'm sorry that I can't give you more. I can only guess that they need them for something, hostages seem likely. But we will get Elliot back," she meet her eyes, sounding determined as she placed a hand on Ambrose's shoulder, "I promise, and I always keep my promises. Right now, you have to be strong for Elliot and keep hope".

The Doctor stepped forward, taking the Hatter's hand, casting her a concerned look out of the corner of his eye. Witnessing a Mother lose their child would have to be hitting quite close to home for her, he could see it written over her face, "Please, Ambrose, get inside the church," he said to her firmly.

Ambrose swallowed thickly and nodded, moving back over to her Father, "Come on, Dad," she helped him up as he panted, still looking pained.

Rory stepped back over to the Time Lords, having been trying to help the man, and the three of them watched as Ambrose slowly helped Tony back up to the church. He turned back to the Time Lords, "So what now?" he asked them.

The Time Lords exchanged a look, breaking into small smiles, already having a plan in mind…

…

The Doctor walked down the street outside the row of houses and slipped a pair of sunglasses on. He slipped them up and down his nose for a moment, feeling quite amused with himself as he remembered a certain blonde Time Lady who had a habit of having to push her own glasses up her nose when they slipped. Maybe that was why she wore them…aside from needing them to see, knowing the Hatter's Second regeneration, she probably found having to adjust her glasses amusing rather than annoying.

" _Stop distracting yourself, sweetheart_ ," the Hatter's voice drifted through his mind, though, she sounded more amused then annoyed, " _Oh, and did I mention that those sunglasses quite suit you?_ "

He grinned broadly, feeling quite pleased with himself, " _No, you didn't, dear_ ," he replied.

" _You should wear them more often, they make you look very…mysterious. Plus, they help to hide the lack of eyebrows_ ".

Unable to stop himself, his hand flew to touch his eyebrows…or rather were they were supposed to be, and he felt his cheeks heat up at the sound of the Hatter's laughter running through his mind. That cheeky woman, she always seemed to find a way to both inflate and deflate his ego at the same time without even trying. Grumbling slightly, he looked down at his hand to see the heat signature making his hand appear to be glowing bright red and broke into small smile that the glasses were working

He looked back up and began to walk across to the other side of the road towards the small vegetable garden, looking around, when he heard something rustling in one of the bushes. He quickly bent low, looking in the direction of the sound, and noticed something moving among the bushes but there was no heat signature, "Cold blood…" he murmured, lowering the glasses to look over the top of them. He smiled faintly, knowing that the Hatter was going to like this, "I know who you are," he said in a sing-song voice.

He pulled the glass off and slipped them inside his pocket, heading back up to the Meals on Wheels van, whistling as he went. As he reached the van, he peered around the back of it, tapping the side to signal to Rory and the Hatter to get ready, before slowly moving back to the front door, pulling it open, and reaching inside to grab a fire extinguisher. He shut the door and caught sight of a creature running towards him in the reflection of the window. Slightly surprised by how quickly the creature had appeared, he stared at the reflection for a moment before jumping off to the side, just as the creature attacked, sending it skidding into the side of the van. Seeing that it was distracted, he blasted it with the fire extinguisher, causing it to cry out as it was hit with the thick, white cloud.

Rory and the Hatter threw the back doors of the van open, jumping out, Rory shouting as the two of them hurried around the side and grabbed hold of the creature as it struggled against them. The Doctor dropped the fire extinguisher and dashed forward, helping to push the creature inside the refrigerated area of the van, slamming the door shut, and quickly locking it before the creature had time to try and attack them again.

"We got it!" Rory cheered as the Time Lords turned back around to face him, the Time Lady straightening her hat. She cast the van a slightly guilty look as the creature began pounding on the door, causing the entire van to shake. She didn't like having to imprison someone and hold them against their will, but right now they didn't have much choice.

The Doctor smiled, wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist, "Defending the planet with Meal on Wheels!" he moved to high five Rory, flashing the Hatter a grin as she laughed, when a rumbling sounded.

Rory jumped slightly and looked down at the ground, alarmed, "What was that?" he questioned.

"That's them leaving, I think," the Hatter guessed, looking up at the sky, listening closely.

He frowned at them, confused, "Without this one?" he gestured with his thumb to the van, just as the dark clouds on the dome above them faded, allowing the bright sun to shine once more, making them blink slightly at the brightness. He smiled slightly, putting his hands on his hips, "Looks like we've scared them off".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, "I don't think so," the Doctor said grimly, glancing at him, "Now both sides have hostages".

…

Rory was sitting on badly leaning gravestone at the back of the church, his arms crossed across his chest while he waited for the Time Lords to return from checking for anymore creatures, looking gloomily out over the valley towards the hillside that he had seen his future self and Amy waving to them earlier. He wished he knew that she was okay, that they hadn't hurt her, because the unknown was starting to drive him mad.

He looked up at the sound of two sets of footsteps approaching to see the Doctor and the Hatter making their way over to him from the front of the church, their arms interlocked and the Time Lady wearing the same smile she always had just before she began rambling about past adventures.

"So, we think we've met these creatures before," the Doctor informed him brightly as Rory straightened, "Different branch of the species, but all the same…" he shrugged, flashing the Hatter a smile, remembering one of their very early adventures with Unit as they made their way over to an old wooden door at the back of the church, pulling it open, "Let's see if our friend's thawed out".

They entered the small basement area, the three of them forced to duck down to avoid hitting the low ceiling, they were unsurprised to find that the place was just as dirty and full of old junk as the main church was, though, the air smelt much more damp.

"We'll just have a nice little chat," the Hatter remarked to Rory, glancing over her shoulder to him, just as a thought occurred to her, her eyes lighting up, "Ooh, I don't suppose we have any tea and biscuits? That always helps to put people at ease…well, usually…and if they like tea and biscuits, which is practically a British crime not to".

"Are you sure?" Rory asked them worriedly, deciding that it was probably better not to even try to touch upon the tea and biscuits subject right now, "By yourselves?"

They came to stop on top of set of steps that lead down into the main basement, looking across to the very end of the room where the Time Lords had chained the creature up, watching the slight movement in the shadows.

"Very sure," the Doctor answered, unconcerned.

"But the sting…"

"The venom glands need twenty four hours to recharge," the Time Lady told him calmly, raising an eyebrow across the room towards the creature, "That's correct, yes?"

The Doctor looked back to Rory when the creature simply hissed, "We know what we're doing," he assured him, patting his shoulder, "We'll be fine".

Rory eyed them for a moment, not appearing to be overly convinced, before he sighed and nodded, casting the creature one last look as he left them. The Doctor and the Hatter turned their attention back to the creature as they made their way down the steps and further into the room.

Slowly, the creature moved closer to the light, revealing a humanoid figure of a woman, covered in green scales of a reptile. Her face was covered by a metal mask with large black eyes and she wore what appeared to be chainmail, a warrior or solider. She watched them both carefully as they approached, crouching defensively on the floor, using her handcuffed hands to balance herself, but the Hatter noticed with a small grimace of guilt that she also seemed to be staying close the wall.

"Hello, I'm the Hatter," the Time Lady began softly, keeping her voice as calm as she possibly could as she raised her hands to try and show her that she meant her no harm, "It's alright, we mean you no harm".

The Doctor nodded along with her, also lifting his hands up, "And I'm the Doctor," he added, his voice quiet, but there was a slight edge to his tone as he continued, "We've come to talk," he stepped closer to the woman, "I'm going to remove your mask," slowly, so not to alarm her, he crouched on the floor before her and reached forward. The woman hissed slightly, drawing back, but didn't try to stop him as he gently removed the mask, revealing a humanoid face that was covered in green scales and human-like eyes. The Time Lords exchanged broad smiles, "You are beautiful," he commented to the woman, delighted.

"Truly," the Hatter agreed, looking just as delighted as the Doctor as she ran her eyes over the woman's face, taking in the scales detailing, "And since this regeneration has a fondness for green, this just makes this even more brilliant".

The woman watched them, still seeming to be very wary of them, but there was a spark of curiosity in her eyes now.

"A remnant of a bygone age on planet Earth," the Doctor smiled happily at the woman, his eyes lit up, "And by the way, lovely mode of travel!"

"Ooh, yes!" the Time Lady nodded excitedly, turning back to the woman, "Geothermal currents…" the woman's eyes widened in surprise, "…projecting you up through a network of tunnels, lovely! I would love to take a peek…if we get the chance, of course".

The Doctor looked around the room, his legs starting to ach from crouching, "Mind if we sit?" he asked, not waiting for a response as he stood and caught sight of two fold up chairs leaning against the wall. He stepped over to them and grabbed them, "Now…" he returned to the woman and the Hatter, setting to two chairs up, and the two of them sat down as he went on, "Your people have a friend of ours," his tone turned firmer, "We want her back".

"Not to mention the young boy and innocent man that you snatched, too," the Hatter added, casually crossing her legs. The woman remained silent, making her inwardly sigh, not surprised, "Alright then, why don't you tell us why you came to the surface in the first place?" she tried.

Still, she remained silent.

The Doctor exchanged a look with the blonde, before turning back to the woman, "What do you want?" he questioned, but there was still nothing. He sighed, shaking his head, "Oh, I do hate a monologue…"

"Reminds me far too much of the Master," the Time Lady remarked quietly.

"Very true, dear," he pointed to her, making a face that almost made her laugh before she could stop herself. He smiled and turned back to the woman, forcing himself to turn serious once more, "Give us a bit back," he said to her, "How many are you?"

"I'm the last of my species," the woman finally responded.

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow at her, eyeing her, not the slightest bit convinced as the Hatter shook her head, "No. 'Last of the species,' the Klempari Defence".

"It's an interrogation defence," the Hatter commented, tilting her head at the woman, watching her reaction closely, "One that can be so easily proven false. Not a tactic that I would have used, personally, if I was in your position".

"And it's a little old _hat_ , I'm afraid," he cast the blonde a smile from the corner of mouth, knowing that she would find anything hat related amusing…unless it had something to do with a hat getting blown up, then he was probably more likely to end up regretting saying anything at all.

The Time Lady struggled not to laugh, nudging his side gently as she tried to give him a scolding look, but it was ruined by her smile.

The woman looked between them, her face set firmly, "I'm the last of my species," she insisted.

"I suggest that you stop now," the Hatter cut in sharply, any amusement she had felt before fading as a hard look crossed both her and the Doctor's faces, "Believe me, trying to use that tactic against us will only worsen your case for you," she fixed her with a stern look, anger entering her voice, "Don't ever try to pretend that you know what it's like to be the very last of your kind with us".

"Because we're the last of our species and we know how it sites in a heart," the Doctor said, his voice hard and carrying a dark, slightly angry edge to it as he took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "So don't insult us".

The woman took a deep breath and straighten, seeming to decide that it would be wise not to continue with that tactic.

"Shall we try again?" the Time Lady raised her eyebrows at the other woman, pushing her anger away as she gave her a friendly smile, "What's your name?"

"Alaya," she replied after a moment.

The blonde nodded, her smile widening in delight, "Lovely name. I thought about calling my oldest daughter that".

"How long has your tribe been sleeping under the Earth, Alaya?" the Doctor asked, and a flash of surprise crossed Alaya's face. He shrugged, "It's not difficult to work out. You're three hundred million years out of your comfort zone. Question is, what woke you now?"

"We were attacked," she glared at them.

"Oh!" the Hatter exclaimed, nodding, "Of course, the drilling".

"Our sensors detected a threat to our life support systems. The warrior class was activated to prevent the assault. We will wipe the vermin from the surface and reclaim our planet".

The Time Lords exchanged a look as the Time Lady sighed, shaking her head, "Do we really need to start name calling?" she said tiredly, "You know, a lot of humans are quite nice if you give them a chance".

"Primitive apes," she spat.

" _Extraordinary_ species," the Doctor argued, frowning at Alaya, "You attack them, they'll fight back. But…" he clapped his hand on his knee, his voice growing calmer as he meet Alaya's eyes, "There's a peace to be brokered here. We can help with that".

"This land is _ours_ ," Alaya glared at them again, looking outraged by the very idea, "We lived here long before the apes".

"And that doesn't give you any rights to it now," the Hatter said calmly and firmly to her, trying to make her understand, "It doesn't work like that anymore…or at least it doesn't work like that in this day and age. The humans won't just give up the Earth, this is their home, too".

"So we destroy them".

"You underestimate them," the Doctor warned her.

"You underestimate us," she hissed.

"The maths isn't exactly on your side here," the Time Lady pointed out, her tone light, "And maths is a subject I've always excelled in…"

"It makes up for her botany skills," the Doctor remarked quietly, trying hard not to laugh.

She sighed, her cheeks turning pink, "Or lack thereof," she conceded, throwing the Doctor a look as the corner of his mouth twitched, "Anyone, that's getting way of track," she shook her head and turned back to Alaya, "The fact is that one tribe of homo reptilian against six billion humans? It's almost laughable and I'm telling you now, the human race will fight back if you try to take the Earth. We've seen it happen time after time, and funnily enough, the humans are still in control of the planet".

Alaya stood, the chains rattling as she glared at them, "We did not initiate combat," she raised her chin proudly, "But we can still win".

"Tell us where our friend is," the Doctor said after a moment, realising that it was pointless is trying to make her change her mind, "Give us back the people who were taken".

She sneered at them, almost appearing to enjoy refusing them, "No".

The Hatter sighed heavily and stood, the Doctor following suit as she shook her head almost sadly at Alaya, "It doesn't need to be this way, Alaya," she tried one last time, "We can help find a way to make this work, you just have to be willing to _try_ ".

"This is our planet," Alaya insisted angrily, looking determined.

The Doctor eyed her for a moment, "We're not going to let you provoke a war, Alaya," he told her, turning away from her and folding the chairs back up, putting them back against the wall, "There'll be no battle here today," he turned back and took the Time Lady's hand, moving towards the door.

"The fire of war is already lit," Alaya called to them, watching them go, "A massacre is due".

The Time Lords stopped, looking back to her, "Not while we're here," they said in unison.

"I'll gladly die for my cause. What will you sacrifice for yours?"

"To protect the human race from a total genocide?" the Hatter responded coldly, raising an eyebrow back to her, completely serious, "My life, if need be".

And with that, she turned around and left the room, her hands clinched at her sides. She knew that she shouldn't have let Alaya get to her, but she couldn't help it, not when so many things today reminded her of the Time War, from being forced to watch Ambrose's fears for her child and now to this. It was all piling on and she doubted it was going to get better anytime soon.

The Doctor quickly caught up with her outside the back of church, finding her sitting on the same headstone that Rory had been. He stepped over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking concerned, "Are you alright, dear?" he asked.

She tried to give him a smile, reaching up to cover his hand on her shoulder, "It's been a stressful day," she sighed, shrugging slightly, "I'll be fine".

"I know better than to ask if you meant what you said about what you're willing to sacrifice".

"You know me so well, sweetheart," he frowned at her, looking less then pleased by her flippant answer. She tightened her grip on his hand, "Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything silly. I don't want to get myself killed, I'm very fond of this regeneration".

He shook his head tiredly at her, but the corner of his mouth twitched, "Sometimes it scares me just how flippant you can be about your own life".

"I know, sometimes I scare myself".

….

"You're going to what?" Rory stared at the Time Lords as if they were insane as they all gathered around each other in the main church, explaining to them their plan to go down into the Earth and try to negotiate a peace deal.

"We're going to go down below the surface, to find the rest of the tribe," the Doctor explained to them clearly once more, looking around at them as he and the Hatter sat on an old armchair, the blonde on the chairs armrest, "To talk to them".

"You're going to negotiate with these aliens?" Ambrose frowned at them, sounding almost disgusted by the very idea.

"But they're not aliens," the Hatter told them calmly, looking around at the humans, "Not really. Earth is just as much their home as it's yours".

"They're Earth…liens!" the Doctor tried, struggling for a moment to come up with the right word, "Once known as the Silurian race, or, some would argue, Eocenes, or Homo reptilian. Not monsters, not evil…" he stood, spreading his arms out as the humans still looked unconvinced, "Well, only as evil as you are. The previous owners of the planet, that's all," he shrugged.

"Try thinking about it from there perspective," the Time Lady continued, knowing that they might understand better if they tried thinking about it from the others standpoint, "To them, the human race are invading _their_ planet. It was _your_ drill that was endangering _their_ settlement. Just think about that for a moment".

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded to her as he paced, looking at each human as he went on, "Now, the creature in the crypt. Her name's Alaya," he informed them, his tone growing sterner, "She's one of their warriors and she's our best bargaining chip. We need her alive," he moved closer to Ambrose, meeting her eyes, "If she lives, so do Elliot and Mo and Amy".

"We will find them and bring them back home, we promise," the Hatter cut in, sounding very determined, looking around to the others as Rory nodded, knowing that they would.

The Doctor waited for a moment for their words to settle in, "While we're gone, you four people, in this church," he began, looking around at them, nodding up towards the church's ceiling, "In this corner of the planet Earth, you have to be the best of humanity".

"And what if they come back?" Tony asked, frowning at them, "Shouldn't we be examining this creature, dissecting it, finding its weak points?"

"No one is dissecting or examining anyone," the Time Lady said sharply, shaking her head quickly, "How would you like it if someone did that to you?" she didn't wait for him to respond, "No, the only reason she is our hostage in the first place is so that we can trade her to get their hostages. No one is to be harmed. This is all about peace, remember?"

"We can land this, together," the Doctor agreed, "If you are the best you can be. You are decent, brilliant people," he looked at each of them in turn, his voice strong, "Nobody dies today," he looked across to Ambrose, "Understand?"

Everyone nodded and Nasreen started applauding them, but stopped nervously when no one else joined in.

The Time Lords smiled at her, both looking quite amused before they turned and headed over to the door, pulling it open, and stepping outside. They made their way over to the TARDIS, only to frown and look over there shoulder's when they heard footsteps behind them to find Nasreen jogging after them.

"No, sorry, no," the Doctor shook his head at her, running to block the TARDIS door, grabbing the door handle before Nasreen had a chance to, "What're you doing?"

"Coming with you, of course," Nasreen replied, smiling brightly at them, glancing at the TARDIS, "What is it, some kind of transport pod?"

"In a way…" the Hatter nodded, following her gaze, smiling slightly.

"But you're not…coming with us," the Doctor frowned at Nasreen as Tony hurried over to them.

"He's right, you're not," Tony agreed, shaking his head at Nasreen.

"I have spent all my life excavating the layers of this planet," Nasreen looked back and forth between the two men as the Time Lady's smile widened, liking the woman more and more, "And now you want me to stand back while you head down it?" she pointed at the Doctor before crossing her arms, "I don't think so!"

The Doctor sighed, checking his watch, "We don't have time to argue".

"I thought we were in a rush," she said innocently, smirking at him.

"It'll be dangerous," he tried.

"Oh, so is crossing the road".

The Hatter laughed and gave Nasreen a approving look, "Ooh, a woman of my own heart…well, hearts," she grinned at her before casting the Doctor a look, "Just let her come, sweetheart. It will save time, not to mention help to give her an experience she will never forget".

The Doctor ran a hand down his face, knowing that he had no chance of trying to refuse the woman now that the Hatter had gotten involved, "Oh, for goodness sake," he huffed slightly, reaching inside his pocket as Nasreen and the Hatter broke into grins, "All right, then!" he withdrew his key and unlocked the door, "Come on!"

He and the Hatter stepped inside the TARDIS, dashing up to the controls, getting ready to set off. They both paused and looked up as the sound of the door being shut sounded as Nasreen entered, staring around in amazement, casting a disbelieving look back towards the doors.

"Welcome to the TARDIS," the Hatter called over to her, laughing slightly at the look on the other woman's face, "Yes, it's bigger on the inside…"

"Don't touch anything!" the Doctor cut in quickly, throwing a look over to Nasreen as he pulled a lever. The Time Lady shook her head fondly at him as she flickered a couple of switches, "Very precious".

Nasreen slowly moved away from the doorway, "No way!" she gasped, still staring around in amazement, before making her way up the steps towards the controls, "But that's…this is…" she broke into a large smile as the Time Lords grinned at her. She stepped over to the Doctor, hitting his arm, "Fantastic!" she laughed, looking down at the controls, "What does it do?"

"Practically everything," the Hatter informed her happily, giving her a wink around the time rotor, "From music to space travel…" Nasreen's eyes widened, "And hopefully, if we're lucky," she continued, pretending that she hadn't notice Nasreen's expression as she turned back to the controls, "Get us underground without the barricade interfering".

Suddenly, the TARDIS pitched violently, forcing the Time Lords and Nasreen to cling to the console to stop themselves from falling as the entire ship shook.

"Did you touch something?" the Doctor demanded over the shaking, looking over to Nasreen, only just clinging onto a lever.

"No!" Nasreen replied, sounding confused, "Isn't this what it does?"

"It's not doing anything!" the Hatter called loudly, one hand grasping onto the console, and the other keeping her hat on, "The engines aren't even going!"

"We've been hijacked!" the Doctor agreed, struggling around the controls, trying to fix things as Nasreen followed, "We can't stop it!" the ship jolted and it sent him skidding onto one of the jump seats, "They must've sensed the electro-magnetic field!" he got back onto his feet and over to the controls once more.

The Time Lady grabbed the monitor, pulling it around to see the screen showing images of outside of dirt and layers of crust flying past the screen, "It looks like they're pulling us into the Earth!" she announced to the room.

As the TARDIS continued falling and the three of them held onto the console, when the TARDIS finally came to stop, sending them crashing to the floor at the sudden stop. The Doctor winced as the Hatter landed half onto of his chest.

"Sorry, sweetheart," she quickly sat upright, not without an apologetic kiss to his cheek, and straightened her hat.

Nasreen laughed, grabbing one of the Doctor's bracer's while he was distracted, and snapped it back against his chest, "Oi!" he jumped, blinking at her in surprise.

"Where are we?" Nasreen asked, looking in-between the Time Lords.

The Doctor smiled slightly and pulled himself back up before helping the Time Lady to stand, keeping hold of her hand as Nasreen followed suit. They ran over to the doors and threw them open, slowly stepping out, looking around carefully to find that they had landed in a large cavern-like room with roots hanging from the rocky ceiling and bits of what appeared to be fungus on the walls. Nasreen stepped out behind the Time Lords, jumping slightly as dirt fell on her head as she closed the door.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in surprise, trying to brush the dirt out of her hair and neck.

The Hatter looked up at tunnel that the TARDIS had fallen down, whistling, nodding to herself as she listened to the echo, "Yep, we've fallen through the bottom of their tunnel system," she remarked, glancing at the TARDIS with a thoughtful look, "Something tells me the tunnels weren't meant to have 1960's police boxes thrown down them".

"How far down are we?" Nasreen questioned, looking around curiously.

The Doctor reached up and grabbed a root, fiddling with it as he walked, "A lot more than twenty one kilometres," he replied.

She frowned slightly, "So why aren't we burning alive?"

"Ooh, good question," the Time Lady pointed to her, nodding as she tilted her head, casting her eyes around the space.

"Interesting, isn't it?" the Doctor smiled at her.

"It's like this is every day to you two!"

"Not every day," the Hatter laughed, shaking her head at her.

"Every other day," the Doctor agreed, laughing along with the Time Lady, taking her hand again as they headed off down one of the tunnels, causally strolling down it as Nasreen hurried to catch up with them.

….

They made their way through the tunnels, looking around as they went, until they walked past another tunnel connected to theirs, but while the Time Lords payed it no attention, Nasreen walked down it, curious.

"We're looking for a small tribal settlement," the Doctor was saying as they walked, still holding the Hatter's hand, "Probably housing around a dozen homo reptillia".

"One _small_ tribe?" Nasreen said slowly, catching the Time Lords attention.

They looked back over their shoulders and realised she wasn't there. They walked back up the tunnel, looking down to see Nasreen staring at something ahead of her down the next tunnel, "At a guess, yes," the Hatter nodded.

"Maybe a dozen?"

They walked down the tunnel and stopped short, their eyes widening as a very large city came into view before them, with buildings sitting on large rocks above rivers of lava, connected by bridges. Slowly, they approached the railing that Nasreen was looking out over.

"Ah…" the Doctor breathed, staring out over the city, very surprised, "Maybe _more_ than a dozen".

The Hatter blinked, her mouth opening and closing for a moment, shocked, "Maybe…maybe an entire civilization complete with a city living under the Earth's surface".

 _ **And finally, we have the next chapter. I apologise for the wait, school work and getting sick prevented me from writing, but I'm on Christmas Holiday's now, so I should have lots more time to write now…when I'm not learning to drive, that is. I've been putting it off for almost two years now, but my parents bought me a car (a little red, modern beetle), so I don't have any excuses not to learn anymore.**_

 _ **Next chapter, the Hatter recalls a few of the Doctor's more clumsy moments, what desert is the Hatter terrible at cooking? And what did Romana think the Hatter would be unsuited for? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Nyx Morgana Pond:**_ _ **I know you wanted to see the Hatter go a bit darker after Elliot was taken, which we did a bit. She would have been very stressed during this adventure, so many little memory trigs scattered around, but ultimately, the Hatter would have blamed and been angry at herself for letting Elliot go. That's the type of person she is, she blames herself and holds onto the guilt.**_

 _ **I don't blame you, I've always loved the villain in movies and stories. Loki, great villain from Marvel, Killgrave, again, Marvel. I personally think Killgrave is worse than Loki, which makes him even scarier when he's played by David Tennant and has a lot of the Doctor's mannerisms. The Master, Klaus from the Vampire Diaries and Originals, Sherlock BBC Moriarty, though, I do like the idea of Elementary Moriarty. Personally, I've always found that the villains are usually the most interesting characters, as someone who loves psychology, I find trying to work out why that villain is the way they are, what set them off down that dark path, and they're thought process to be very interesting.**_

 _ **I'm sorry for getting a bit side-tracked there, thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **I can't wait to write Missy, I can just see her and the Hatter having a bit of a competition with each other. Not to mention Missy's hat is not going to go down well…**_

 _ **Clara's death is going to be both great and horrible to write. I can't say why, but just that it will be very, very hard on the Hatter, but from the stand point of enjoying writing emotional scenes it will be interesting to write.**_

 _ **Ooh, Heaven Sent and Hell Bent, I loved watching both. It was those types of episodes that have you holding your breath all the way through. Hell Bent left us with quite a few unanswered questions about the Doctor, they didn't exactly confirm that he was part human, nor did they really deny it, either, but he was also able to still use the neural block, which I thought was only supposed to be used on humans, mind you, I have only watched the episode once so I can't be sure about that. And then there was the Hybrid, is it really Me? The Doctor? Or both of them? Again, more unanswered questions. I did love the episode, though, my favourite Classic Who episodes are usually the ones that have the Doctor on Gallifrey, because we always learn something new about his past or about the Time Lords.**_

 _ **Heaven Sent made me want to cry when I realised that he had to die over and over again, just to continue the loop and try to break through the ice a little bit each time. It was so cruel and heartbreaking, and then when you think about the Time Lords being the ones to put the Doctor through that, it just makes the whole thing even worse. His own people, the people he had spent centuries grieving for and so much joy discovering they were still alive, and then for them to do something like that, I don't blame the Doctor for acting the way he did when he finally got out.**_

 _ **Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **Ooh, so much to choose from, I'm not sure. Maybe during the 50**_ _ **th**_ _ **special when the three Doctors are about to use the Moment together, or Eleven's regeneration, maybe Amy and Rory's final scene in that graveyard. There's just so much to choose from, there's a lot of scenes from the 50**_ _ **th**_ _ **that I'm really looking forward to. Thanks for the review :)**_


	17. Chapter 17 Cold Blood, Part 1

_**Cold Blood, Part 1**_

The Doctor, the Hatter, and Nasreen walked together along a long pathway high above the lake of lava, passing very tall buildings as they went in a very large cavern-like space. There was only enough room for two people to walk side by side on the pathway, so Nasreen trailed behind the Time Lords as they held each other's hands in front of her.

The Time Lady was looking around the space, taking it all in with an expression mixed between delight and curiosity, very much enjoying the whole thing…despite the same wary feeling that she had felt when they had first arrived in the graveyard returning, this time even stronger. The air felt quite warm, she noticed, though she wasn't surprised given the lava below them and the fact that the Silurians would have lived in a warm climate, as she recalled clearly from her and the Doctor's meeting with them while working with Unit. She was mildly surprised by the only faint smell of sulphur in the air, but she quickly guessed that there must be an automatic system that monitors the sulphur in the air to prevent the Silurians from being asphyxiated by the gas, which was turned on when the others were awoken.

"This place is enormous and deserted," the Doctor remarked after a long moment of silence, looking around as they continued down the pathway, "The majority of the race are probably still asleep," he paused briefly to look over the edge of the walkway, and the Hatter quickly pulled him back, making him blink at her, "What?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "With our luck, do you really want to push it and lean over the edge of a platform that has _no_ railings and _lava_ running beneath it?" she asked.

He paused and gave her a sheepish look, "Good point, dear," he nodded, breaking into a smile, glancing at Nasreen, "That's her mothering side coming through".

The Hatter laughed fondly, shaking her head, "No, that's just me being used to you, especially this regeneration, falling over things and making the situation worse".

"Name one time!"

"Hmm, let's see…you tripped over your Fourth regenerations scarf hundreds of times, only last night you tripped over the end of the bed and I walked in to find you groaning on the floor, rubbing your chin and nose. Then there was the time you tripped and caught your foot on the skirt of one of my stupid dresses I had to wear during my First body, sending us both to the floor, just as the door opened and your wife walked in…"

His cheeks turned bright red, "I said name one!" he exclaimed, embarrassed as Nasreen smirked behind them, enjoying herself, "And that last time wasn't my fault. That dress you had on was huge and all…" he started waving his hands around, making them look even more gangly then normal, while the Hatter simply looked amused. He huffed slightly, giving up trying to find the right word, "….it was just a trip hazard waiting to happen".

"Tell me about it," the Hatter nodded, rolling her eyes, "Oh, how grateful I was to be able to wear dresses above my knees when I left Gallifrey, not to mention trousers on a daily bases".

"Do you two do this often?" Nasreen spoke up, gesturing between them, smiling slightly.

They both paused and looked at her, before glancing back to each other, "Pretty much," the blonde replied.

"Yeah," the Doctor said in unison.

Nasreen eyed them both a little strangely, nodding slowly, wondering just what she had got herself into with these two, "Right…"

"Anyway," the Doctor gave himself a shake, reaching inside his blazer as they started walking down the pathway once more, and withdrew his sonic screwdriver, "We need to find Amy," he clicked a button on the device, holding it up, scanning the area, "Looking for heat signature anomalies".

"But…" Nasreen began, frowning as she cast her eyes around, "How can all this be here?" she questioned, shaking her head as she spotted some more fungus-like plants and big, leafy ferns on the rocks around them as they approached an open doorway, "I mean, these plants…"

They stepped through the doorway and into a low roofed tunnel, which was slightly surprising after the wide open spaces of the cavern before.

"Well, I'm no expert in plants…" the Hatter said slowly.

"She's really not," the Doctor cut in, giving Nasreen a serious look, "She's a genius, the most intelligent person I have ever known, which is saying something, and she's utterly useless at everything to do with plants".

The Time Lady blushed faintly, nudging the Doctor's side, "Yes, _thank you_ , sweetheart," she muttered, trying to be annoyed, but it was rather hard to be annoyed when even she had stated thousands of times before just how terrible her skill with plants were. She coughed, giving Nasreen a small smile, "As I was saying, I suspect that we must be getting closer to the city. It's only logical to assume that they would want to have plant life around them, make things a bit nicer to look at then just dirt and buildings".

Nasreen looked at them, frowning again, "You're sure this is the best way to enter?"

"Front door approach!" the Doctor smiled broadly, nodding, missing the dubious look the Hatter shot him, not entirely agreeing with him, "Definitely," he continued confidently, "Always the best way".

An alarm suddenly sounded.

"Hostile life force detected, Area Seventeen," a female voice called over loudspeaker, causing the three of them to come to a stop.

"You were saying, sweetheart?" the Hatter commented over the alarm, sighing slightly.

The Doctor winced, holding the blonde's hand tighter, "Apart from the back door approach, that's also good," he muttered, turning and looking back down the way they had come, wondering if they would be able to get back down that way without getting caught, "Sometimes better".

"Hostile life force detected, Area Seventeen".

The Time Lady shook her head at him, trying hard not to laugh despite the situation, "Oh, my adorable idiot".

The door behind them slid open, just as the Time Lords had begun to make their way back down the tunnel.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Nasreen called to them, sounding nervous.

They turned back around to find several armed Silurian soldiers run into the open doorway, each wearing the same style clothing that Alaya wore as they aimed their guns at them. Another group run into the tunnel from the other end, trapping them.

The Doctor and the Hatter quickly held up their hands, looking back and forth between the two groups, "We're not hostile," he assured them. The Time Lady nodded to Nasreen, holding her arms higher, and the other woman hurriedly held up her arms, "We're not armed," he added, his eyes darting worriedly to the Hatter, really not liking the fact that they had guns aimed at her.

"We're here in peace!" the Time Lady tried to tell them, looking sincere.

One of the Silurian's stepped forward and fired a cloud of grey gas at them, causing them to start coughing as it hit their faces, Nasreen seeming to be effected worse than the Time Lords as they collapsed onto the floor on there sides, gasping and coughing, when everything went black.

…

The first thing the Hatter became aware of when she awoke was the Doctor crying out in agony. Her hearts began racing as her head whipped around to the side to find the Doctor had been strapped to an upright operating table in a separated cubical from her by a glass screen as a green light ran over him, obviously scanning him. She tried to move, desperately wanting to run to his side and make the pain stop, to try and comfort him, but she found that she couldn't move, since she too had been strapped to a similar bed.

"Stop it!" she shouted, anguished at the sound and sight of the Doctor in so much pain. She looked to the front of the room to find that they had been taken to a laboratory. Two Silurian's stood in the middle of the room, one a male and wearing a chainmail apron over the top of a white coat, while the other was another female worrier. Neither of them payed her any attention, "Please, just stop it!" she tried, her eyes unable to stay away from the Doctor, blinking back tears as his cries continued, "You're hurting him!"

"How can they have escaped?" the woman demanded, completely ignoring the Doctor and the Hatter's shouts, her back to them as she spoke to the man, "This proves all prisoners should remain under military guard".

"What are you doing to him, exactly?" the Hatter called quickly, her mind racing too much with worry for the Doctor to be able to think properly, "It's a scan, yes? But what is it scanning for?"

The man, who was fiddling with a syringe that was full of a yellow substance glanced at the Hatter for a moment, before shaking his head, turning back to the woman, "I'm sure you'd prefer to be in charge of everything and everyone, Restac," he remarked to her, his tone turning stronger as he went on, "But we rank the same," Restac inhaled sharply, not seeming pleased as he sat the syringe down on the workbench before him, "Is there any word from Alaya?"

Restac turned away from him, watching the Doctor withering in pain, "No," she replied shortly.

"It's fine to show concern, you know. She's a part of your gene-chain," Restac glared at him, looking even more annoyed with him as he looked over to the Hatter, "I'm Decontaminating him now," he informed her, talking slowly, as if he wasn't sure that she would understand properly.

"Decontaminating?" the Hatter repeated, her eyes going wide with horror as they snapped back to the Doctor, "No, you have to stop!" she cried urgently, "Stop it right now!"

"No!" the Doctor yelled, twisting in pain, having heard everything that had been said. He tried to look at the Hatter, but the pain was to much as he withered, terrified that they would start doing the same thing to her, "No, no! Listen to her!" he broke off suddenly, his shouts growing louder as the pain seemed to increase.

The man looked up from the controls to them, "It's all right," he told them patently, talking mainly to the Hatter, "It won't harm him. I'm only neutralising all of his ape bacteria".

"We're not humans!" the Hatter shouted frantically, trying to pull against her restraints, unable to stand the Doctor being in so much pain, "Neither of us are! Check the scans, we have two hearts!"

"Totally different!" the Doctor managed to call out through the pain, making the man pause, frowning at them, "Totally not ape…" he broke off again with a cry of pain, panting slightly as a forced out, "Remove all human germs, you remove half the things keeping us alive!"

The Time Lady watched, holding her breath as the man looked down at something on the controls before him, his eyes widening. He looked back up to them, just as the Doctor shouted loudly, and reached for something on the controls, causing the machines to whirr as the green light faded and the Doctor stopped shouting, breathing heavily as he seemed to slowly relax. The Hatter closed her eyes in relief, suddenly becoming aware that she had been shaking.

"No, complete the process," Restac ordered angrily, still watching the Doctor.

The Doctor took a moment to catch his breath, finally able to look over to the Hatter, making sure that she was alright. Aside from her hat being missing, which she hadn't appeared to have noticed, and how pale her skin looked from worry and fear for him, she appeared to be fine. He guessed that they would have processed her once they had finished with him, he was grateful that they had chosen him first. He knew he wouldn't have been able to stand hearing or seeing her go through what he had.

Once he was sure she was okay, he turned back to the Silurians, "Oh, that's much better, thanks," he gave them a weak smile, still feeling quite breathless, "Not got any celery, have you?" they looked at him strangely as Restac approached him.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," the Hatter smiled softly over to him, "I'll make you something with celery in it once this is all over. I seem to recall owing you lots of soup after all the celery and chicken soup you made me eat while I was recovering from the Gallifreyan Flu".

"Ah, good," he flashed her a bright smile, giving her a wink, "I love it when you cook…"

"Just as long as it's not soufflés," she sighed slightly, shaking her head sadly, "I've never been able to cook them properly, I always end up burning them".

He inwardly grimaced, remembering just how badly some of her attempts to bake soufflés over the centuries had gone. They were almost as bad as her gardening skills, "Never mind the celery," he said, turning back to the Silurians, casting his eyes around the lab, "Not really the climate, anyway, tomatoes, though…" he paused thoughtfully, "You'd do a roaring trade in those," he smiled at Restac as she eyed him and Hatter, "I'm the Doctor, this is the Hatter…"

"Hello!" the Time Lady cut in cheerfully.

"Oh, and there's Nasreen," he continued, noticing Nasreen strapped to a similar bed in another cubicle bedside his, separated by glass, appearing to be sleeping, "Good!" he nodded, pleased to see that she was alright.

The male Silurian stepped over to Nasreen and held a device up to her face, pulling it back as her eyes opened as she woke, widening at the sight of him, "Oh, a green man…" she breathed, startled.

"And you're…Restac, yes?" the Hatter said pleasantly to the female Silurian, taking note of the red tunic she wore over the same style clothing as Alaya, "I assume that you're involved in the military somehow?"

"Military commander," Restac replied.

"Oh, dear, really?" the Doctor sighed, his face falling slightly as he exchanged a look with the blonde, "There's always a military, isn't there?"

"And a commander to boss people around," the Time Lady added. That was one thing she was sure she wouldn't have been very good at had she been allowed to fight during the Time War, taking orders from someone. She was more likely to have ended up getting court marshalled after getting into a fight or an argument, even Romana had said that she wasn't very well suited to being a solider, which was probably among one of the reasons why she had made her in charge of building the weapons, rather than worker under someone else.

The Silurian scientist looked over to them from examining Nasreen, "Your weapon was attacking the oxygen pockets above our city," he informed them, frowning.

"Oxygen pockets, lovely!" the Doctor commented happily, before pausing, glancing at the Hatter, "Ooh, but not so good with an impending drill. Now it makes sense".

The scientist nodded to them, clicking something into a device that was hanging on a cable beside Nasreen's bed as Restac glared at the Doctor, stepping closer to him, "Where is the rest of your invasion force?" she demanded.

"Oh, I think there's been a very big mistake," the Hatter said, catching Restac's attention. She gave her a polite smile, having a feeling that her being nice would annoy the woman more. She still hadn't forgotten just how much pain the Doctor had been in, not to mention the fact that they had almost killed him, even if they hadn't known, "We're only here to get our friends back, the human's that you took".

"And…to offer the safe return of Alaya," the Doctor went on, watching Restac's expression as her face hardened, a flicker of worry in her eyes, "Oh, wait, you and she…" he glanced at the Hatter, who nodded in confirmation, "What is it?" he turned back to Restac, "Same genetic source?"

"She's okay," the Time Lady assured her, catching her expression, "Truly, she's safe, we meant her no harm".

Restac looked between them, "You claim to come in peace, but you hold one of us hostage," she stated coldly, turning away and gesturing to the soldier's on guard to take position by the three of them.

"Wait, wait!" the Doctor called quickly, his eyes widening worriedly as they flickered over to the Hatter, "We all want the same thing here!" he tried.

"I don't negotiate with apes," she snapped at them, turning to the scientist, "I'm going to send a clear message to those on the surface".

The Hatter swallowed nervously, glancing at the soldier's standing beside her warily, already having a pretty good idea what that would be, "And what is that message, then?" she questioned.

She looked back to them coldly, "Your execution".

The Doctor sighed slightly, not surprised in the slightest, "Yes…"

…

The Doctor and the Hatter walked together as Nasreen walked closely behind them, the three of them with their hands handcuffed behind their backs as they were led down a pathway that was lined by even more plants, even a water feature trickled away, seeming to be being led further into the city. The scientist followed behind them with two soldiers, while Restac marched ahead of them with two more of her soldiers, holding their weapons at the ready should they try to escape.

"These must be the only ones awake," the Doctor was saying to Nasreen as they walked, "The others must still be in hibernation".

"So, why did they go into hibernation in the first place?" Nasreen asked curiously, looking at the Time Lords.

"Well, it was all due to a mix up," the Hatter explained, recalling hearing the story centuries ago, "You see, their astronomers predicted that a planet was heading towards the Earth on a crash course, and so they built all of this," she nodded her head at the buildings and plants around them, smiling faintly, "They created themselves a city underground and put themselves to sleep for a millennia in an attempt to escape what they believed to be the apocalypse".

"When in reality, it was the Moon, coming into alignment with the Earth," the Doctor finished, nodding along with the blonde.

Restac stopped suddenly, forcing them to come to a stop as she turned around to face them, stunned.

"How can you know that?" the scientist stared at them, frowning.

The Time Lords hesitated, exchanging a quick look, "Long time ago, the Hatter and I met another tribe of Homo Reptilia," the Doctor told them, turning back to them, "Similar, but not identical".

"Others of our species have survived?" Restac said slowly, hope crossing her face as she looked between the Time Lords.

The Hatter winced, swallowing sadly as she remembered standing in a moor centuries before during her Third regeneration, heading back to Unit HQ with the Third Doctor and Liz Shaw. They had gone ahead of the Brigadier and his men when Bessie, the Doctor's old yellow car had broken down, and that's when they witnessed the expulsion happen. The Brig had given the order to destroy the Silurians in a misguided attempt to keep the Earth safe, much to her and the Doctor's outrage and disgust. Just like now, back then they had tried to find a way to build peace between the humans and Silurians, she just hoped that it wouldn't end in bloodshed as it did back then.

"I'm sorry," the Time Lady looked sadly back to the Silurians around them, her voice quiet as she spoke, "We tried to form peace with them, but the humans felt threatened," she sighed heavily as Restac inhaled sharply, "The humans…they attacked them, killing them all. I'm sorry, so very sorry".

A look of fury crossed Restac's face as she glared at the Time Lords, "A vermin race," she spat furiously, whirling back around and leading them off once more.

The Time Lords exchanged wary looks as the Silurian soldiers behind them hissed, forcing them onward. The three of them were escorted past more plants and eventually they came to a large building that appeared to be in the middle of the city. They were led down a long corridor and into a large court room that had a long table running down the middle of it and stone benches running high along the side of the room, while at the very end stood two very large, stone pillars.

"You're not authorised to do this," the scientist reminded Restac as they entered the room.

"I'm authorised to protect the safety of our species while they sleep," Restac snapped back at him, marching further into the room.

"Oh, lovely place," the Doctor remarked, looking around, taking it all in, "Very gleaming".

"It reminds me a little of Gallifrey," the Hatter commented quietly, a hint of nostalgia entering her tone as she also looked around. She half expected to see a bunch of people wearing terrible caps and funny, overly large collars with long gowns walking around, whispering in small groups with each other before a meeting was started, trying to look important.

The Doctor gave her a small, sad smile, whishing that he could hold her hand as they were brought to a stop at the end of the table, while Restac moved to stand at the other end of the table, looking back down it to them, "This is our court and place of execution," she informed them coldly.

"Okay, so maybe a little less like home, then," the Time Lady muttered. Of course, that's not to say that there wasn't a death penalty on Gallifrey for truly terrible crimes, the Doctor was very nearly vaporised when he was framed for murdering the Lord President during his Forth regeneration, but such a thing didn't happen very often, once every few centuries, perhaps, but they weren't done so publically.

Suddenly, Amy walked, quite calmly, into the room from behind one of the stone benches, holding a Silurian gun that she aimed at Restac, "Let them go," she ordered.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor smiled, looking at Nasreen and the Hatter, "There's a girl to rely on".

Another human man entered the room from the main door, holding his own Silurian gun, aiming it at the two soldiers standing by the Time Lords and Nasreen.

Amy glanced over to him before turning back to Restac, seeming to be fighting back a smirk, "You're covered both ways, so don't try anything clever, buster," she warned her.

The Hatter laughed slightly, "You watch too much telly, Amy," she said, shaking her head fondly before pausing, rethinking what she had just said, "Though, I can hardly be one to judge".

"Mo!" Nasreen called happily, catching sight of the man.

"Now let them go, or I shoot," Amy threatened Restac, but she ignored the threat, moving closer to her, making the red head raise the weapon slightly higher, "I'm warning you!" she tried again, taking a small step back.

Restac snatched the gun out of Amy's grasp, pushing her onto the floor.

"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor shouted, looking at Amy worriedly.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" the Hatter cried at the same time, throwing Restac a sharp look before focusing on Amy, trying to crane her neck to see if she was alright.

Restac ignored them both as she spun back around, aiming the weapon across the room to Mo, "And you," she glared at him, motioning to her soldiers, who quickly surrounded the man, snatching his gun off him.

"Alright, Restac," the scientist sighed heavily, holding up his hands in an attempt to calm the steadily exalting situation down, "You've made your point".

Restac positioned the gun by her side and stepped closer to him, "This is now a military tribunal," she said quietly, going on mockingly, "Go back to your laboratory, Molohkeh".

One of the soldiers stepped behind Molohkeh, shoving his back and hissing at him, making him jump and glance over his shoulder. He turned back to Restac and she hissed aggressively at him as he cast a quick look over to Amy, "This isn't the way," he told her, lowering his head as he turned and walked out of the room.

The Time Lords watched Restac carefully as she turned to them, "Prepare them for execution," she ordered.

The soldiers stepped forward and roughly grabbed the Time Lords and the humans, pushing them towards the back of the room, and over to the two pillars, tying them to them.

"Okay, sorry," Amy called over to the Doctor and the Hatter, looking slightly nervous as the Doctor was tied to the front of the first pillar, while the Time Lady was tied to the right side of the pillar beside him, Nasreen on the left side. One of the soldiers pushed Mo towards Amy's pillar, "As rescues go, didn't live up to its potential".

"We're just happy to see you safe and well," the Hatter smiled at her, grasping the Doctor's hands with some difficulty behind their backs.

"Me too," Amy nodded, glancing at one of the Silurian soldiers as it tied Mo to the same pillar as hers, raising an eyebrow over to them, "Lizard men, though".

"Homo Reptilia," the Doctor explained to her, looking across to her, "They occupied the planet before humans," he glanced at Mo, sighing slightly, "Now they want it back".

"After they've wiped out the human race," Nasreen added helpfully from her side of the pillar.

"Right," the red head said slowly, her eyes widening slightly at the information, "Preferred it when I didn't know, to be honest," she muttered.

Five soldiers lined up before the pillars, aiming their weapons at each of them, just like a firing squad. The Hatter felt the Doctor tighten his grip on her finger tips.

"Why are they waiting?" Nasreen asked when nothing happened after a moment, Restac had her back turned to them, facing the table, "What do you think they're going to do with us?"

They watched Restac, who still kept her back to them as she nodded to someone off to the side of the room, and a holographic projection appeared before them, showing Ambrose and Tony, standing close together, seeming to have been hugging, while Rory stood a short distance behind them.

"Oh, my God," Ambrose gasped, caching sight of them, shocked.

"Who is the ape leader?" Restac questioned coldly.

"It's them!" she breathed, her eyes wide with fear, the Hatter realised, "How are they doing that?" she moved out of sight as Rory moved closer to the projection, "How do they now that we're here?"

"Who speaks for the apes?" Restac demanded.

Ambrose stepped back into sight beside Tony as they both looked at Rory. Tony said something too low for them to hear as Rory swallowed, looking paler then normal as he slowly stepped forward, awkwardly waving a hand, "I speak for the…" he shook his head, "Humans. Some of us, anyway," he finished quickly.

"Do you understand who we are?"

"Sort of," he nodded, "A bit…" he shook his head, "Not really".

"We have ape hostages," she informed them, and the footage must have zoomed out to show them tied to the pillars as Ambrose, Tony, and Rory's expression grew even more alarmed.

"Doctor!" Rory shouted, his eyes widening as he ran closer to the projection, "Hatter! Amy!"

"Mo!" Ambrose cried, hurrying forward as she spotted her husband, "Mo, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, love!" Mo called back to her quickly, "I've found Elliot. I'm bringing him home!"

Ambrose burst into relieved tears, grabbing her chest as Tony put an arm around her.

"Amy!" Rory breathed, his eyes fixed on Amy, "I thought I'd lost you!"

Amy smirked slightly, looking quite pleased to hear that he had missed her, "What, 'cos I was sucked into the ground?" she rolled her eyes playfully, "You're so clingy".

"Tony Mack!" Nasreen smiled broadly.

Tony laughed slightly, looking relieved to see her, "Having fun down there?" he joked weakly.

"Ah, not to interrupt," the Doctor cut in, glancing warily at Restac's back, "But just a quick reminder to stay calm".

"Yes, there's no need for tempers to start rising," the Hatter nodded quickly, her eyes flickering to rest on Ambrose, "Just remember what's at stake here".

"Show me Alaya," Restac ordered, and something in Ambrose's expression made the Hatter tense, growing even more nervous as the human woman seemed to grow paler, "Show me and release her, immediately, unharmed, or we _will_ kill your friends…" she warned, very serious, "One by one".

Ambrose shoved Rory out of the way, moving closer to the projection, "No!" she exclaimed.

"Ambrose…" Rory began, looking worried.

"Steady now, everyone…" the Doctor tried reminded them as the Hatter frowned deeply at Ambrose, sensing something very wrong had happened, she just couldn't work out what yet.

"Ambrose, stop it!" Tony said sternly, grabbing her and pulling her back.

"Get off me, Dad!" Ambrose shouted, pushing his hands off her, whirling back around to glare at the projection, "We didn't start this!"

"Easy now, Ambrose," the Hatter said calmly, trying to hid just how worried she was by how badly this situation was turning, "I know you're upset, you have every right to be, but please just let Rory deal with this. We can get everyone back, you just have to…" but she didn't get a chance to finish, as Ambrose cut across her.

"We're not doing what you say anymore!" she snapped angrily, glaring at the Time Lords, before turning her gaze to the Silurians, "Now, give me back my family!"

Everyone waited tensely for Restac's response as the Doctor, the Hatter, and Amy exchanged uneasy looks, unsure of just how she would react.

"No," Restac finally replied coldly, making Ambrose's face fall. She turned to the soldiers, "Execute the girl," she commanded.

The soldiers marched forward and over to Amy, reaching for her restraints as Amy looked fearful.

"No!" Rory cried, pushing Ambrose out of the way, desperate, "No, wait!"

"Leave her alone!" the Hatter tried urgently, her eyes wide, struggling against her restraints.

"Rory!" Amy screamed fearfully, trying to pull away from the soldiers as they undid the restraints.

"She's not speaking for us!" he tried desperately as Amy was pushed into the middle of the room in front of soldiers.

"There's no need for this…" the Doctor began hurriedly, his eyes flying back and forth from Amy to Restac.

"Listen!" Rory called frantically, "Listen! Whatever you want…we'll do it!"

"Aim!" Restac ordered, and the soldiers pointed their guns at Amy.

"Amy!"

"Rory!" Amy shouted back.

"Don't do this!" the Doctor yelled urgently, trying to pull against his restraints.

"Please, just give us one last chance!" the Hatter cried, ignoring the pain in her wrists as she pulled on the restraints.

"No!" Rory called, when the connection was suddenly cut and static came over the screen.

"Fire!" Restac commanded.

Amy closed her eyes, waiting as the Hatter looked away, unable to watch…

"Stop!" a man's voice echoed throughout the room, making them all look up and over to the main doorway to see Malohkek enter the room with another, older Silurian in a ceremonial robe, clearly a member of the Elder Council. They moved further into the room, "You want to start a war, while the rest of us sleep, Restac?" he remarked to her, not seeming surprised, but not pleased, either.

"The apes are attacking us!" Restac tried to defend herself, her voice suddenly sounding less commanding then before as the soldiers lowered their weapons.

He shook his head at her, "You're our protector, not our commander, Restac," he reminded her, his tone growing sterner as he came to a stop at the end of the table, glancing at the Time Lords and humans tied up, "Unchain them," he ordered her.

She raised her chin defiantly, "I do not recognise your authority at this time, Eldane".

"Well then, you must shoot me," Eldane replied calmly, holding out his hands.

A tense moment past as they waited to see just what Restac would do, before she let out a frustrated hiss and stormed around the table, glaring at Malohkeh, "You woke him to undermine me," she snapped at him.

"We're not monsters," Malohkeh said firmly, glancing over to the Time Lords and humans. The Hatter smiled faintly, having a feeling that she and the Doctor might just get along quite well with him, "And neither are they".

"What is it about apes you love so much? Hmm?"

"While you slept, they've evolved," he told her, smiling faintly, "I've seen it for myself".

"We used to hunt apes for _sport_ ," she spat, sounding disgusted, "When we came underground, they bred and polluted this planet".

"Shush now, Restac," Eldane cut in, clearly tired of her arguing, "Go and play soldiers," the Time Lords exchanged a quick, amused look as they could only imagine the furious look on Restac's face as Malohkeh moved past her, "I'll let you know if I need you," he finished pleasantly.

"You'll need me, then we'll see," she said shortly, glaring at him as she stormed past him and out of the room.

Eldane didn't seem concerned as he turned back to face the Time Lords and humans, "Release them," he ordered the soldiers, who moved forward and began to unchain them all.

The moment the Doctor was free, he pulled the Hatter into a hug, both of them very relieved to be able to touch each other now with restrains getting in the way. Once they were both finished hugging, they dashed over to the table, the Hatter giving Amy a comforting pat as they passed her, and the Doctor withdrew his sonic screwdriver, flashing it at the projection that was still playing static before them. Rory, Ambrose, and Tony popped up on the screen a moment later.

"Rory!" the Time Lords cheered, the Time Lady giving him a friendly wave, "Hello!"

Rory's eyes widened, darting around the projection, looking almost frantic with worry, "Where's Amy?" he asked quickly.

"Don't worry, she's fine," the Hatter assured him, giving him a smile as the Doctor made the projection zoom out slightly to show Nasreen, Mo, and Amy, who moved forward, standing behind them, "See? Perfectly fine".

Rory sighed in relief, catching sight of her as Nasreen and Mo stepped out of sight, giving him a clear view of Amy, "Oh, thank God," he breathed.

Amy smiled at him, her hands inside her shorts pockets, "Keeping you on your toes!" she called to him.

"No time to chat," the Doctor cut in, focusing on the task at hand as Amy moved out of sight to join the other humans. He turned back to the projection, "Listen, you need to get down here," he told them as the projection zoomed in on his and the Hatter's faces, "Go to the drill storeroom, there's a large patch of earth in the middle of the floor".

"The Silurians are going to send you some transport to bring you down here," the Hatter informed them, watching as Rory nodded, listening to their instructions, "Now, they'll look like metal disks that you just need to step on to make them work. They use geothermal energy and gravity bubble-technology to work," she said, breaking into a broad grin as she thought about the devices.

She couldn't help but feel just a little jealous that they got to use them, though, she wouldn't tell the Doctor that, since he would just end up pouting about her not getting jealous of other woman flirting with him. Sadly, that's just how her mind worked.

"And frankly, it's pretty cool," the Doctor added, exchanging his grin with the Time Lady, his eyes lit up, before forcing himself to become serious, "Bring Alaya," the Hatter frowned slightly, noticing that they seemed to lose their smiles at the mention of Alaya, "We hand her over, we can land this after all," he continued, not noticing anything wrong, "All going to work, promise. Got to dash!" he held up his thumbs, "Hurry up!"

And with that, they ended the signal.

….

It didn't take long for the Time Lords to talk Eldane into agreeing to discus possibilities for Earth in regards to peace between the humans and the Silurians. The Doctor and the Hatter stood at the end of the table, looking down to Amy and Nasreen, who sat on one side while Eldane was opposite them, and Mo and Malokeh stood back, watching.

"I'd say, you've got a fair bit to talk about," the Doctor remarked, leaning against the table top.

"How so?" Eldane asked, looking over to the Time Lords.

"Well, both sides want to planet," the Hatter said, shrugging slightly, "And you both have a genuine claim to it, which makes this all the more harder".

He eyed the Time Lords, "Are you authorised to negotiate on behalf of humanity?"

The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, blinking, "Us?" the Doctor repeated, startled as he turned back to Eldane, "No!"

The Time Lady smiled faintly, looking over to Amy and Nasreen, "Luckily, they happen to be," she commented, gesturing to them, making Amy and Nasreen's heads snap around to look at them, eyes wide.

"What?" Nasreen exclaimed, looking at them as if they were insane.

"No, we're not!" Amy added quickly, staring at them.

The Hatter laughed slightly, giving them a wink, "Oh, come on!" she smiled broadly at them, moving around to wrap her arms around their shoulders, pulling them closer together, "You two are perfect for this, you just need more faith in yourselves".

The Doctor nodded along with her, smiling as he moved around to the opposite end of the table, waving a hand towards the two human women, "Amy Pond and Nasreen Chaudhry, speaking for the planet! Humanity couldn't have better ambassadors," he wrapped his arm around the Hatter's waist as she stepped over to him, both of them turning back to face the woman, "Come on, who has more fun than us?"

Amy shook her head fondly, laughing slightly as she got up and walked over to them, "Is this what happens, in the future, the planet gets shared?" she questioned them, looking eager and excited, "Is that what we need to do?"

Nasreen frowned slightly, also standing and moving over to them, "Er…what are you talking about?" she glanced at Amy, looking confused.

"Oh, I completely forgot," the Hatter gave Nasreen an apologetic look, "We really ought to have mentioned that we travel throughout time, this is ten years into Amy's future right now," she nodded to the girl.

She looked back and forth between the three, smiling faintly, "Anything else?" she asked, crossing her arms.

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, the blonde nodding slowly, "There are fixed points through time where things must _always_ stay the way they are," the Doctor began to explain, choosing his words carefully, "This is not one of them. This is an opportunity, a temporal tipping point," his eyes lit up the more excited he grew as he continued, and the Hatter broke into a smile watching him, "Whatever happens today, will _change_ future events, create its _own_ timeline, its _own_ reality".

"And it all comes down to your two, right _here_ and _now_ ," the Hatter agreed, making a sweeping gesture to Amy and Nasreen, smiling at them, "The future of this planet pivots around _you_ two, just remember that, just remember that this is for humanity, and for the Earth".

Amy stared at them for a long moment, before sighing, "Right," she nodded, heading back over to her side of the table, glancing at Eldane, "No pressure, then".

"We can't _share_ the planet," Nasreen argued, shaking her head at the Time Lords, "Nobody on the surface is going to go for this idea. It's just too big a leap!"

"Come on," the Doctor gave her an encouraging look, nudging her, "Be extraordinary".

"Oh…" she tried to talk as the Time Lords smiled at her, making her huff slightly in annoyance, "You…" she smiled back at them slowly, shaking her head as she turned back to the table, and sat down beside Amy.

The Hatter laughed, high fiving with the Doctor, who grinned at her as they turned back to the table, "Okay," he hit the table, unable to keep the smile off his face, "Brining things to order, the first meeting of representatives of the human race and homo reptilian is now in session," he held out a hand towards both sides, before laughing, looking delighted, "Ha!" he looked at the Hatter, who looked just as excited as him, "Never said that before, that's fab!"

"I'm very happy for you, sweetheart," the blonde said to him honestly, kissing his cheek quickly.

He took her hand, looking even more pleased after the kiss as he pointed back to the table, "Carry on," he told them, before turning his attention across the room to Mo, "Now, Mo!" he pointed to him as he and the Time Lady began moving around the table, heading towards the man, "Let's go and get your son," they led Mo and Malokeh towards the door as the Doctor looked back to the Hatter, "Oh, you know, humans, and their predecessors, shooting the breeze," he shook his head happily, "Never thought I'd see it".

"Nor did I," the Hatter nodded, smiling broadly, "It certainly has been a day of surprises".

As they stepped out of court room, Malokeh began to lead them back through the hallways and back towards the same laboratory that they had woken in earlier, but rather than going back inside the room, he led them past it and into a hallway, coming to a stop by a doorway with a control panel beside it.

The Time Lady moved closer to the door, peering in through a small window in it to see Elliot standing behind the door, staring blankly before him with wires connected to his temple. A stasis chamber, of course. She smiled faintly, very relieved to see him perfectly fine.

The Doctor moved beside her to see for himself, "Elliot, there you are," he remarked, pleased as he and the blonde moved back from the door, watching as Malokeh put something into the control panel.

Mo glared angrily at Malokeh, "If you've harmed him in any way…" he began threateningly.

"Of course not!" Malokeh said at once, looking almost offended by the suggestion, "I only store the young".

The Hatter titled her head, looking at him curiously, "For what reason, exactly?"

He turned to the Time Lords, "I took samples of the young, slowed their lifecycles to a millionth of their normal rate so I could study how they grew, what they needed, how they lived on the surface," he informed them.

"And you've been down here all by yourself, working?" she asked, knowing just what it was like to work on her own. She had thrown herself into her work during the Time War, just trying to ignore her own grief for her children and fear for the Doctor, not to mention centuries before that when her children had been in school, and the Doctor and Susan had left.

"My family, through the millennia…" he sighed sadly, looking down briefly, "For the last three hundred years, just me," he looked over to Mo as the Time Lords exchanged an understanding look, "I never meant to harm your child," he told him, and Mo nodded.

The Doctor smiled at him, "Malohkeh, I…" the Hatter nudged his side, making him give her an apologetic look, "Sorry, _we_ rather love you," he bumped his fist against his as Malohkeh returned the smile.

"And we don't often get to say that to people," the Time Lady added, giving Malohkeh a wink.

Malohkeh gave them a slightly embarrassed look and turned back to the control panel, "It's safe," he commented, pressing a button and opening the door as he turned back to them, "We can wake him," as the door slide open, he stepped inside the chamber and over to Elliot as the Time Lords and Mo moved closer to the doorway, watching as he carefully removed the wires from Elliot before looking back to Mo, "Come," he gestured for him to enter.

Mo, looking slightly pale, moved into the chamber and closer to his son as Malohkeh stepped out beside the Time Lords, "Elliot?" he called quietly as Elliot blinked blurrily, "Ell, it's Dad".

"What…" Elliot frowned, looking confused before he caught sight of his Father, making the Hatter smile, "Dad?"

Mo broke into a wide, relieved smile and pulled Elliot into a tight hug, "You're safe now," he assured him.

As they pulled away, Elliot frowned again, "Where are we?" he questioned.

"Well, I've got to be honest with you, son. We're in the centre of the Earth…and there are lizard men".

Elliot looked around his Father to see the Doctor, the Hatter, and Malohkeh, who gave him a little wave, standing in the doorway. He blinked at them before breaking into a grin, "Wow!"

"Elliot," the Hatter began, stepping into the room as the Doctor followed her. She lean down so that she was eye level with him, "We owe you an apology, a very big one. We should never have let you go on your own, and we are truly sorry," she gave him a hopeful look, holding out her hand, "Can you forgive us?"

"It's okay," he smiled at them, taking her offered hand and shaking it, "I forgive you both".

"Thank you," she said, straightening as she took the Doctor's hand. She had felt a sick sense of guilt ever since Elliot had been taken, and while she still blamed herself now, she felt better having Elliot's forgiveness.

"You're a good boy," the Doctor remarked, ruffling Elliot's hair.

They stepped out of the room and back into the hallway, the Time Lords began to head back to the court room, "You go on," Malohkeh called to them, making them pause and looked back to him, "I'll catch up".

The Time Lords nodded to him, continuing on their way as they led Mo and Elliot back through the city, only getting lost once, but luckily they managed to find their way back to the courtroom.

"…you give us space, we can bring new sources of energy," Eldane's voice drifted down the hallway as they approached the main door, making the Time Lords slow slightly, listening carefully, "New methods of water supply, new medicines, scientific advances," he continued, "We were a great civilisation. You provide a place for us on the surface, we'll give you knowledge and technology beyond humanity's dreams. If we work together, this planet could achieve greatness".

"Okay," Nasreen said after a moment, "Now I'm starting to see it".

"Oh, yeah!" Amy cheered, sounding very pleased.

The Doctor and the Hatter entered the room, clapping, drawing their attention to them as Mo and Elliot walked behind them.

"Sounds like things are going well," the Time Lady commented, looking proudly at Amy and Nasreen.

"Not bad for a first session," the Doctor agreed, nodding along with her as they neared the table, "More similarities than differences".

They was a loud whooshing sound, making them look back towards the door.

"Transport has returned," Eldane announced, glancing across the table to Amy and Nasreen, "Your friends are here".

 _ **Ooh, next chapter…it's going to be a big one, let's just say that. And you might have to wait a day or so longer for it because of Christmas, but not too long. Having said that, Marry Christmas everyone, or happy holidays for those who don't celebrate it. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Jmw:**_ _ **I really liked your idea, it sounded very interesting and I'll have to keep it in mind should I ever write another Time Lady OC story, but with this story I'm trying to keep things close to the episodes as I can with small changes here and there…possibly bigger ones to come in the future. And I agree, it would have been nice if they had made the peace deal, but I can understand why they would have chosen to have written that plot out. Thank you for the review and suggestion, I'll certainly keep it in mind :)**_


	18. Chapter 18 Cold Blood, Part 2

_**Cold Blood, Part 2**_

Eldane stood, moving around the table to stand beside the Doctor and the Hatter as they waited for Rory, Ambrose, Tony, and Alaya to meet them, watching the door. A few minutes past and finally, Rory appeared in the main doorway, looking slightly nervous.

"Here they are," the Doctor remarked, catching sight of him, giving him a wave.

Ambrose followed behind Rory, "Mum!" Elliot called joyfully, running out of his Father's arms and across the room towards his Mother, throwing his arms around her.

"Rory!" Amy grinned, standing.

Tony entered the room behind Rory and Ambrose, carrying what appeared to be something wrapped up in an orange blanket, but as he began to make his way further into the room, the Hatter felt herself tense, eyeing the blanket with a growing sense of dread. She was really not liking the idea of just what might be under that blanket.

The Doctor frowned at Tony, catching on to something being off, too. Even their expressions seemed wrong, there wasn't the same happiness there that he would have expected to have seen, more…worry and fear, "Something's wrong…" he muttered, taking the Time Lady's hand, holding it tightly.

"I know," the blonde replied softly, keeping her voice low so that the others wouldn't hear, "Please just tell me it isn't what I think it is".

Amy moved closer to the Time Lords, eyeing what Tony was carrying, "Doctor, Hatter, what's he carrying?" she asked, fearfully.

The Time Lords stepped forward, their eyes fixed on the blanket, "No," the Doctor breathed, horrified, "Don't do this," he looked at Tony, his tone growing angrier, "Tell me you didn't do this".

Tony didn't respond as he knelt on the ground, gently placing the blanket on the ground. The Time Lords approached it, crouching down as the Hatter took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself as she reached forward and carefully pulled the blanket away, revealing Alaya's face. She swallowed thickly, feeling herself pale as the Doctor's jaw tensed.

He looked back up to Tony, glaring at him as Tony hung his head, looking ashamed, "What did you do?" he demanded, furious.

"It wasn't him, Doctor," the Hatter said, covering Alaya's face once more, trying hard to keep her own temper in check. She took a deep breath, looking back up, "Who had the most to lose in this?" she sighed, looking across to Ambrose, her voice flat, "It was you, wasn't it, Ambrose?" everyone looked at Ambrose, " _You_ did this".

Ambrose raised her chin, "Yes".

Elliot's eyes widened, looking very confused and horrified, "Mum?" he turned around, staring at her, pulling away from her.

"I just wanted you back," she tried to tell him desperately, grabbing his shoulder.

Elliot, still staring at her, shook his head and stepped away from her, moving stand by his Father. Everyone looked at Ambrose, caught between disappointment and shame as the Hatter closed her eyes. She could certainly understand where Ambrose was coming from, after all, she had built the Moment due to her grief for her children, but that didn't make the situation any less horrible.

The Doctor quickly turned to Eldane, desperately trying to think of some way to save what they had worked so hard to build, "We're sorry," he began as Eldane looked away, "We didn't know".

"Truly, we had no idea," the Hatter nodded, looking at him, "If we had, we would have made sure this never happened. We never meant to cause Alaya any harm," she swallowed, glancing over her shoulder to Ambrose, her tone growing angrier, "They are _so_ much better than this".

"This is our planet!" Ambrose shouted, glaring at Eldane.

"We had a chance here!" the Doctor snapped, whirling back around to look at her.

"Leave us alone!"

"That's enough!" the Hatter cut in, her voice sharp as she stormed across the room towards her, "I told you that you needed to be stronger than this, for your son. This…" she pointed over to Alaya's body, glaring at Ambrose, "This isn't strength, this is murder!"

The Doctor followed after her, giving Ambrose a sharp look as she blinked slightly, trying hard not to react after what the Hatter had said, "And in future, when you talk about this, you tell people there was a chance but you were so much less than the best of humanity".

Suddenly, armed solider began filing into the room from every entrance, surrounding them, trapping them in the middle of the room as they all aimed their guns at them. Restac marched into the room after them.

"My sister…" she started, looking around as the Time Lords both paled, moving closer to each other. She looked around the room before spotting Alaya's covered body, her expression froze as she walked over to it, crouching, and pulled back the blanket. She let out a strangled wail of grief, making the Hatter wince at the sound, before gently replacing the cloth. She looked up at the Time Lords, furious, tears brimming in her eyes, "And you want us to trust these apes?" she spat.

"One woman," the Doctor held up a finger, glancing over to Ambrose, "She was scared for her family. She's not typical".

She stood and turned around to Ambrose, glaring at her, "I think she is".

"One person let us down," he said pleadingly, looking back to Eldane, "But there's a whole race of dazzling, peaceful human beings up there," he looked around at the others, "You were building something here, come on…an alliance could work!" he tried desperately.

"It's too late for that," Ambrose cut in, shaking her head, looking fearful as Restac eyed her angrily.

The Hatter looked at her worriedly, growing even more alarmed, "What else have you done?" she breathed.

"Our drill is set to start burrowing again in…" she reached inside her coat, withdrawing a stopwatch, looking down at it, "Fifteen minutes," she informed them.

"Oh, please, no," the Time Lady groaned, reaching up to toy with her bowtie.

"What?" Nasreen exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror, turning to Tony.

"What choice did I have?" Tony tried to defend, looking over to her, "They had Elliot".

"Don't do this, don't call their bluff," the Doctor warned, growing frustrated.

"Let us go back," Ambrose looked to the Silurians, looking determined to follow through with her plan as the Hatter closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head, "And you promise to never come back to the surface ever again," she continued, "We'll walk away, leave you alone".

"Execute her!" Restac shouted, beyond reasoning with now.

"No!" the Time Lords cried, leaping forward and grabbing Ambrose as the soldiers aimed their weapons at her.

"Mum!" Elliot yelled desperately as his Father grabbed him, stopping him from running forward, into the firing line.

The Doctor and the Hatter pulled Ambrose down, forcing her to duck down to try and protect her from being hit as the soldiers began shooting as they edged carefully towards one of the doorways, "You lot!" the Time Lady looked over to the humans, "Get back to the lab, don't stopping running!"

All the humans made a run for the doorway, running through an archway between two of the high benches off to the side of the room as the Time Lords turned back to face the soldiers, trying to give the humans some cover to run.

"Execute all the apes!" Restac ordered, looking around at the soldiers.

The Doctor reached inside his blazer, withdrawing his sonic, quickly flashing it at the Silurians guns, causing several of them to spark violently, "This is a deadly weapon, stay back," he told them as he and the Hatter started backing away towards the door.

One of the soldiers jumped onto the seats behind them, lashing its tongue at towards them.

"Doctor!" the Hatter called, her eyes widening as she realised he hadn't seen the solider yet. Without thinking, she jumped forward, pushing him out of the way, but she wasn't fast enough to avoid being hit and she cried out as the tongue slashed against the side of her throat.

The Doctor stumbled, blinking in confusion at what happened, and he quickly spun around just as the Hatter cried out, her hand flying towards her throat as her knees gave way beneath her, "Hatter!" he leaped forward, catching her before she hit the floor, picking her up, and running out through the doorway after the others.

As he ran, he looked down at her face to see her eyes closed tightly, looking pained. He swallowed, his mind racing, she was fine, she _had_ to be. There wasn't any other choice and the moment that he could, he was going to do everything that he possibly could to make sure that she was okay. She had put herself in risk to save him, he had to fix this…whatever this was.

Up ahead, he noticed the humans running through the tunnels, Rory running behind the others. He paused as he caught sight of the Hatter in the Doctor's arms, concern crossing his face, "Take everyone to the lab," he instructed them ungently before coming to a stop in front of Rory, "Rory, I need you to take her," he said hurriedly, hating having to let her go when she needed him, but he knew that she wouldn't want her to weigh him down. Carefully, he shifted the blonde into Rory's arms, who blinked, alarmed, "Look after her!" he added sternly.

"I will, promise," Rory nodded, shifting the Hatter slightly in his arms.

The Doctor took a deep breath, turning back around to face the tunnel, reaching inside his blazer for his sonic once more, "Go, I'll cover you."

Rory turned and ran after the others, trying not to jolt the Hatter around too much, "Go!" he told them loudly, trying to urge them to move faster down the tunnel, "Go!"

The Doctor aimed his sonic screwdriver at Restac and her soldiers as they finally caught up with him, aiming their guns at him. He desperately wished that he was back with the Hatter, but he knew he needed to do this first as he used his sonic to cause the guns to spark violently before they had a chance to use them.

"Ah, ah!" he shouted at them as Restac went to lung at him, "Stop right there! Or I'll use my very deadly weapon again," he warned them quickly, slowly backing up the tunnel, "One warning, that's all you get. If there can be no deal, you go back into hibernation," he looked around at them, his tone firm, "All of you, _now_! This ends here".

"No," Restac spat, looking as if she was only just holding herself back from lunging at him again, "This only ends with our victory".

"Like I said…" he raised his eyebrows at her, "One warning," he flashed his sonic again, causing two more guns to spark violently, before running off down the tunnel after the others as they gave chase with a growl from Restac.

As he ran down the tunnel, he slowed his pace slightly as he reached the laboratory door and stepped through into the room, flashing his sonic at the control panel beside it to make the door slid closed behind him, sealing it shut, before looking to the group who had gathered around the room. The Hatter was leaning against a wall, still looking pained but she opened her eyes at the sound of his voice.

"Elliot," he looked at the boy, taking charge, "You and your Dad keep your eyes open on that screen," he pointed back over to the screen beside the door, "Let us know if we got any company," Mo and Elliot nodded, running over to the screen. He turned his attention to the Hatter as he stepped over to her and knelt beside her. He wanted to hug her, but he didn't want to cause her any more pain, "Tell me what to do," he murmured to her, not wishing the others to hear as he took her hand, holding it tightly.

The Hatter gave him a small smile, squizzing his hand back, "I'm afraid it's too late for that, sweetheart," she sighed sadly, shaking her head, "There's nothing more that you can do now".

He frowned deeply, not liking just how sad and resigned she looked, "I can fix this," he said, determined, "We just need to get back to the TARDIS…"

"Doctor," she cut across him, her tone light, but firm. She took a deep breath and meet his eyes, "It's _too_ late, the poison has already spread throughout my system and my body…" she paused, grimacing in pain, struggling to give him a weak smile, "Well, it's already triggered my regeneration. See?" she pulled back her hand from the side of her neck where she had been stung, showing clear, smooth skin, not a single mark as there should have been.

The Doctor's stared at the spot for a long moment as she let her hand fall into her lap. He tried to shake his head, not wishing to believe that this was the end, that she was about to regenerate because of him, "No," he looked back to her, refusing to give in, "We can find another way…"

The Hatter placed a hand on his cheek, shaking her head, "And while I do love you for trying so hard, we both know that there are only two ways to prevent regenerations, both of which don't imply here since I don't wish to die completely and nor do I have a severed limb that I can use," she gave him another smile, this one brighter and more like her usual self, "It's okay, sweetheart, we both knew this was coming. Really, I would have regenerated months ago with you if I hadn't made that promise, and while I wasn't happy with you at the time, I am grateful now that I've had these past few months in this body to get to know this you," her eyes began to water, but she blinked the tears away, "It's not the end, it's just…a change".

His eyes filled with tears and he moved closer, pressing his forehead against hers, "This is my fault".

"No," she said sternly, pulling back slightly to look at him, "It was my choice, regardless of how stupid it might have been, I don't regret it. I refuse to allow you to blame yourself for this," he opened his mouth to argue, but she quickly went on, "Doctor, we don't have time for this," she reminded him, glancing around the room, trying to give Amy and Rory a comforting smile as they watched them, looking worried, trying to work out what was happening, "I can hold the regeneration off for a few hours yet, we need to be focusing on dealing with all of this first".

He frowned worriedly, "The longer you hold it off, the more painful it will be".

"Doctor, if this is going to be my last adventure in this body, I'm going to make sure I see it through to the end, no matter how uncomfortable or pained I might be".

"Why do you have to be so… _you_?"

"Because soon, I'm going to have to relearn just who I am all over again".

The corner of the Doctor's mouth twitched, unable to stop himself from smiling slightly at her response. It was such a typical thing for her to say, "Well," he tried to keep his smile, "I look forward to getting to know the next you".

The Hatter broke into a wide smile, lightly patting his cheek. She knew exactly how hard this entire situation was for him, since she had been in the very same position when he had regeneration into this latest body, "We can say goodbye later, sweetheart," she told him gently, wishing she could make this entire thing easier for him, "First, we have all of this to deal with," he nodded, trying hard to keep his emotions in check, knowing that she was right. She dropped her hand from his cheek and took his hand, "Help me up, please".

He gave her another frown, "Hatter…"

"You heard me, I want to see this through properly. I'll be fine".

He sighed, resigned. While he might not have been entirely happy about the idea, he knew that it was important to her to see this adventure through, just as it had been important to him to look back at all of his past companions before his own regeneration happened, and she had supported him throughout that, both emotionally and physically, towards the end.

He stood and gently pulled her up, wrapping an arm around her waist as she stumbled slightly, grimacing painfully as she closed her eyes briefly, "I thought you said you would 'fine,'" he muttered to her.

"I will be," she sighed, opening her eyes as the grimace faded, "The pains not that bad, not yet, at least. It comes in small, sharp bursts," she gave him a small smile, thinking about all of the previous times she had regenerated. All things considered, the first one was probably the most uncomfortable, since that's when she had grown her second heart, "I can handle it," she assured him.

The Doctor eyed her for a moment, not looking completely convinced, since he knew very well that she wouldn't let on if she really was in a lot of pain, no doubt not wishing to add any more guilt to what he was already feeling, but he knew better then to try arguing with her. Slightly reluctantly, he turned to Amy, "Amy, keep reminding us how much time we haven't got," he said, reaching inside his pocket and chucking the stop watch over to her.

Amy blinked slightly as the caught the device, startled as she pulled her eyes off the Hatter, still trying to work out just what was wrong with the blonde, "Okay," she looked down at the watch, "Twelve minutes till drill impact".

The Time Lords moved around the control panel in the middle of the room, and over to where Tony was sitting slumped in a chair, Nasreen standing beside him, looking at him, concerned.

"Tony Mack," the Doctor began, looking at his pale face closely, his arm still around the Hatter, "Sweaty face, dilated pupils, what're you hiding?"

Tony sighed heavily, undoing the top couple of buttons of his shirt, pulling it down to reveal bright green veins running down his chest and around his neck, appearing to be stemming from a small cut in the side of his neck. The Hatter winced sympathetically, knowing that she would have been facing the very same thing, had her regeneration not been triggered.

"Tony!" Nasreen gasped, her eyes widening as she caught sight of the veins, "What happened?"

"Alaya's sting," he informed her, his voice sounding slightly strained as the Doctor flashed his sonic at the veins, scanning the area, "She said there's no cure. I'm dying, aren't I?" he looked at the Time Lords.

"Well, she was partly right," the Hatter muttered under her breath, moving to lean against the control panel, trying very hard not to wince.

The Doctor stepped over the controls, checking the readings with his sonic, "You're not dying, you're mutating," he blinked slightly, mildly surprised.

"How can I stop it?" Tony asked, hopeful.

"We could try the decontamination program," the Time Lady said slowly, looking thoughtfully over towards the beds that they had found themselves strapped to earlier that day, "That might work, at the very least it will slow it down".

The Doctor flashed her a grin, glad to see that despite the pain, she was still trying to help. He turned to Eldane, "Eldane, can you run the program on Tony?"

"Doctor, Hatter!" Mo called quickly from by the door, "Shedload of those creatures coming our way!" he turned around to face them, "We're surrounded in here!"

Eldane moved to help Tony over to one of the decontamination chambers.

The Doctor looked around at the others, his gaze coming to rest on the Hatter, "So, question is, how do we stop the drill given we can't get there in time?" he wondered aloud, moving around the room as he spoke, "Plus, also, how do we get out, given that we're surrounded?"

The Hatter tilted her head, her mind racing, when it suddenly hit her, "Oh, of course!" she spun around to look at Nasreen, quickly catching herself before she lost her balance, "Nasreen, I know this isn't going to make you very happy, but what you would you say if we were to channel an energy pulse up the tunnels, hitting the base of your drill?" she questioned, trying to keep her voice bright and cheerful, hoping it might make it easier on Nasreen.

Nasreen stared at her, narrowing her eyes, "To blow up my life's work?" she demanded.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, catching on to the Hatter's idea, giving Nasreen a grim look, "Sorry. No nice way of putting that…"

"Though, I did try my best to," the Time Lady cut in, looking at Nasreen apologetically.

Nasreen took a deep breath, looking resigned, "Right, well," she looked in-between them, "You're going to have to do it before the drill hits the city, in…" she trailed off.

"Eleven minutes, forty seconds," Amy supplied, looking down at the stop watch.

The Doctor broke into a broad grin, moving back over to the control panel, "Yes!" he cheered, clapping his hands as he looked at the blonde, "Squeaky bum time!"

The Hatter laughed, shaking her head fondly at him. She didn't have the heart to scold him for enjoying the situation the worse it got, not this time.

"Yes," Nasreen continued, frowning deeply at the Time Lords, "But the explosion is going to cave in all the surrounding tunnels so we have to be on the surface by then".

"But we can't get past Restac's troops," Rory reminded them, glancing over towards the door.

"I can help with that…" Eldane said, making everyone look at him as he stepped into the doorway of the decontamination chamber, where Tony was leaning against the bed, "Toxic fumigation, an emergency failsafe meant to protect my species from infection," the Time Lords eyes widened, exchanging a concerned look as he went on, walking over towards them, "A warning signal to occupy cryo-champers. After that, citywide fumigation, by toxic gas. Then the city shuts down".

Amy blinked, stepping closer to Eldane, "You could end up killing your own people," she frowned.

"Only those foolish enough to follow Restac," he replied.

"Eldane, are you positive about this?" the Hatter asked softly, looking at him sadly, "These are your people, after all, regardless of who they might be following," she looked at the Doctor, "We can find another way to do this…"

"My priority is my race's survival," he cut in, shaking his head, "The Earth isn't ready for us to return yet".

"No," the Doctor agreed, his tone grim.

"Ten minutes," Amy announced, checking the watch.

"But perhaps, one day, they should be," the Hatter smiled slowly, her eyes twinkling as she looked at the Doctor.

He meet her eyes, breaking into a matching grin as he turned back to the controls, "So here's the deal," he began, looking around at everyone, "Everyone listening? Eldane, you activate shutdown…" he instructed him, who nodded and moved around to the controls, "We'll amend the system, set your alarm for a thousand year's time".

"Got that?" the Hatter asked the humans, looking around at them, "You will have a _thousand_ years to insure that the planet is ready, make sure that the humans all know and understand what's coming".

"Pass it on," the Doctor nodded along with her, "As legend, or prophesy, or religion, but somehow make it known," he looked over to Elliot, "This planet is to be shared".

"Yeah," Elliot smiled at him, nodding, "I get you".

He grinned at him, clicking his fingers as Amy checked the stop watch, "Nine minutes, seven seconds," she called to them.

The Doctor moved back over to Eldane and the Hatter, looking down at the controls, "Yes, fluid controls," he wiggled his fingers around, "My favourite!"

The Hatter laughed fondly, shaking her head, "Of course they are, sweetheart," she began typing something into the controls as the three of them worked together, "Right then, the energy pulse has been timed, primed, and set".

He nodded, "Before we go, energy barricade. Need to cancel it out quickly," he withdrew his sonic and flashed it at the controls, looking at one of the screens as the dome above the town disappeared.

"Fumigation pre-launching," Eldane informed them, looking up from his side of the controls.

"There's not much time for us to get from here to the surface," Rory frowned, looking concerned at the Time Lords.

"Ah ha!" the Doctor laughed, "Super-squeaky bum time!" he looked around to the others, turning serious, "Get ready to run for your lives. Now…" he started.

"But the decontamination program on your friend hasn't started yet," Eldane cut in, nodding over towards Tony in the chamber.

"Well, go," Tony tried to usher them away, forcing himself to stand properly, "All of you! Go".

"No, we're not leaving you here!" Ambrose cried, shaking her head.

"Granddad!" Elliot ran over to him, hugging him.

Amy checked the stop watch, her voice growing slightly worried as she looked over to the Time Lords, "Eight minutes, ten seconds".

"Now, you look after your Mum," Tony said, slightly breathlessly to Elliot as they pulled apart. He leaned down so that they were eye level, "You mustn't blame her," he told him, "She only did what she thought was right".

"I'm not going to see you again, am I?" Elliot shook his head sadly.

"I'll be here," he placed a hand over Elliot's heart, "Always," he promised him, "I love you, boy," he pulled him into another tight hug, looking over to Ambrose, who was struggling not to burst into tears as she watched, "You be sure he gets home safe," he said to her,

"This is my fault," Ambrose sobbed, pulling Elliot to her as they separated.

"No, I can't go back up there," he tried to give her a smile, shaking his head as Elliot stepped over to Mo, who wrapped an arm around him, "I'd be a freak show. The technology down here's my only hope".

Ambrose gasped back sobs, throwing her arms around Tony, "I love you, Dad".

Tony looked around at the others as he let go of Ambrose, who tried to cling onto him. Mo moved forward and gently pulled her away, "Go," he told them, glancing at Nasreen, "Go".

"Come on," Mo muttered quietly, pulling Ambrose over to Elliot.

"Go on," he continued, nodding at Ambrose.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around the Hatter's, who gratefully did the same to him, leaning heaver on him then she would have liked to have admitted. She had tried very hard to hide the pain that was growing worse as her finger tips began tingling, feeling warmer than usual, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to hid it for too much longer. She just hoped that she would be able to until this was all over.

The Time Lords looked at Eldane, who pressed his hand onto the screen before them, activating the fumigation. The lights turned off around them and an alarm started off as a green light shone around them.

"Toxic fumigation imitated," the computer announced over the alarm, "Return to cryo-chambers. Toxic fumigation imitated," it repeated, "Return to cryo-chambers…"

Amy ran over to look at the screen, showing the image of outside, "They're going!" she called, looking back over to the Time Lords, "We're clear!"

"Brilliant," the Hatter smiled slightly, struggling not to let her voice wavier, "Alright, everyone," she looked around to the others, "Follow Nasreen, just look for a big blue box that says 'Police'. I doubt you'll miss it".

The Doctor stepped over to the door, his arm still around the Hatter, "Get ready to run," he flashed the sonic at the door, making it slide open before they walked back over to Eldane, "We're sorry".

Eldane sighed heavily, "I thought for a moment, our race, and the humans…" he trailed off.

"We know," the Time Lady nodded, giving him an understanding look, "We had hoped that things would end differently, too".

"We've got less than six minutes!" Amy informed them loudly from the doorway, looking worried.

"Go!" the Doctor waved them off, "Go! We're right behind you!" They hurried out of the room and off down the tunnel as the Time Lords turned back to Nasreen, who had made no move to leave, "Let's go!"

The Time Lords went to follow the others…

"I'm not coming either," Nasreen said, smiling slightly, making them stop short and look back to her.

"What?" he questioned, blinking at her.

She simply stepped beside Tony, putting a hand on his arm, "We're going to hibernate with them, me and Tony," she replied calmly.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Eldane looked at the Time Lords urgently, "You must go!"

Tony looked at Nasreen softly, "I can be decontaminated when we're woken," he remarked, smiling at her, "All the time in the world".

"But…Nasreen…you…" the Doctor frowned, shaking his head, glancing at the Hatter, only to see her giving the two a small smile.

"No," Nasreen smiled broadly, walking closer to them, looking excited, "This is perfect. I don't want to go," she looked between them as the Doctor continued to stare at her, "I've got what I was digging for. I can't leave when I've only just found it".

The Time Lady nodded at her, "Believe me, we understand," she glanced at the Doctor beside her, shaking her head slightly, amused at the still surprised expression on his face, "Or at least he will, once he's over the shock".

The Doctor coughed, looking slightly embarrassed as Nasreen laughed as it finally hit him just what Nasreen was saying.

"Doctor!" Amy's voice came from behind them, and the blonde glanced over her shoulder to find the red head running towards them, looking slightly annoyed, "Hatter!"

"Thank you, Doctor," Nasreen nodded to him, before look at the Hatter, "And thank you, Hatter".

The Hatter carefully stepped forward, trying not to grimace as she pulled the other woman into a hug, "It's been an honour, Nasreen," she whispered to her, pulling back.

"The pleasure was all ours," the Doctor agreed, pulling Nasreen into a quick hug, too, before letting her go and wrapping a supporting arm around the Hatter, and grabbing Amy's hand as they ran out of the door.

"Come and look for us!" Nasreen shouted from behind them as the door slid shut.

The alarm continued blaring loudly overhead as the Time Lords and Amy ran back through the tunnels, quickly finding Rory, who was running back towards the direction of the lab as they passed him.

"Immediate evacuation…" the computer announced over the loud speaker.

"Other way, idiot!" Amy called to Rory, grabbing his arm and pulling him along with her, back down the tunnel.

"…toxic fumigation is about to commence".

They ran back through the city, running through a doorway and out onto the bridge that run above the river of lava to find Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose staring around in amazement.

"Come on!" the Doctor told them quickly, running past them with the Hatter, who was struggling to keep pace with him, finding every step sent a burst of pain up through her entire body. She was even feeling slightly breathless, something she hadn't felt in a long time.

The humans jumped, startled out of their amazement, and they ran after the Time Lords as they led them along the bridge and through a second door, hurrying down a tunnel that opened up into the cavern-like space where the TARDIS was sitting, waiting for them.

The Hatter almost collapsed against the TARDIS as she reached it, gasping for breath as she struggled to stay standing. She knew that she didn't have much longer now, the running and extra stress of trying to escape had shortened her time when it came to holding off the regeneration, she could feel it. The pain had increased, becoming sharper and in longer bursts, and the tingling feeling was starting to feel more like pinpricks.

The Doctor cast her a worried look as he reached inside his blazer for his TARDIS key, inserting it into the lock, "Don't ask questions!" he looked back to the humans as they gathered around the door, "And yes, we know it's big!" he unlocked the door, ushering Mo, Elliot, and Ambrose inside, "Ambrose, sickbay upstairs, left, then left again…get yourself fixed up," he instructed her quickly as the three of them dashed through the door, closing it behind them.

"We only have five minutes left," the Hatter gasped out, trying to catch her breath as she closed her eyes, placing her hands on her knees as she bent over, coughing. The Doctor pattered her on the back, looking even more worried.

"Hatter, what's wrong?" Rory asked, frowning at her as he stepped closer to her.

"I'm fine," she winced, waving a hand at him as she slowly straightened, leaning on the Doctor, her breathing starting to level out, "Just…just need to catch my breath, that's all…" she trailed off, her eyes widening as she caught sight of something on the stone wall across from them, "Oh, dear…"

The Doctor grew alarmed, but as he realised that she was looking at something, he followed her gaze to see the crack from Amy's wall had appeared on the wall before them, only bigger now glowing with Time Energy. Amy and Rory looked over to it, their eyes widening.

"Not here," he shook his head, staring at it, "Not now".

The Hatter swallowed, eyeing the crack, tracing it with her eyes, "It's getting wider," she breathed, "And longer".

"The crack on my bedroom wall," Amy murmured, looking worriedly at the crack.

The Doctor carefully let go of the Time Lady, who grabbed onto the side of the TARDIS for support, watching him as he walked over to the crack, "And the Byzantium," he commented, crouching before it, "All through the Universe, rips in the continuum".

"It's some sort of…space-time cataclysm," the Time Lady eyed the crack thoughtfully, shaking her head, "Something big had to have caused, an explosion seems highly likely," she sighed, grimacing as a stab of pain shot through her chest, "It certainly had to be big enough to have caused cracks in the Universe".

"But what?" the Doctor wondered aloud, studying the crack carefully, fascinated.

Amy pulled her eyes off the crack and checked the stop watch, "Four minutes fifty…" she looked back up to the Time Lord, mainly the Doctor, "We have to go!"

"The Angels laughed, when we didn't know," he remembered, frowning at the crack, ignoring Amy, "Prisoner Zero knew, everybody knows, except us!" he exclaimed, frustrated.

"Doctor, just leave it!"

"But where there's an explosion…" he said thoughtfully, reaching inside his pocket, withdrawing a red hankie, breaking into a smile as he wrapped his hand in the hankie, "There's shrapnel," he moved closer to the crack, reaching a hand towards it.

"Doctor, you can't put your hand in there!" Rory shouted, alarmed as he realised what he was planning to do. He turned to the Hatter, knowing she was the only one who would be able to talk any sense into him, "Hatter, stop him!" he urged.

The Hatter gave him an apologetic look, "Sometimes, you just have to jump right in, Rory," she shrugged slightly, before casting the Doctor a stern look, "But, having said that, please do be careful, sweetheart. You can't just regrow another hand if you lose that one, not this time".

The Doctor grinned, giving her a thumbs up as Rory groaned, running a hand down his face. They watched as the Doctor carefully reached his hand into the middle of the gap, crying out loudly in pain as the light grew brighter and his arm disappeared further into the gap. The Hatter winced, not from her pain, but from seeing and hearing the Doctor in pain.

His cries grew louder as Amy and Rory jumped, looking nervous, when he laughed slightly, "I've got something!" he told them brightly, scrunching up his face.

"What is it?" Amy asked nervously, her voice shaking slightly.

"Sweetheart?" the Hatter looked at him worriedly, taking a step towards him.

Suddenly, he pulled his arm back, sending him sprawling onto the floor on his stomach, clutching something wrapped in the hankie that smoked with heat and the energy. He stared down at it, wide eyed, "I don't know," he shook his head.

The Time Lady sighed in relief, seeing that he was unharmed as she shakily moved closer to him, reaching out a hand to help him up, when…

"Doctor, Hatter!" Rory gasped, catching sight of something.

They all looked over towards the caverns entrance to see Restac crawling towards them, struggling with every move she made, gasping for breath.

The Doctor jumped onto his feet, tucking the hankie inside his pocket as he put an arm around the Hatter, all of them watching Restac warily.

"She was there, when the gas started…" Amy realised, alarmed, "She must've been poisoned!"

"You!" Restac spate at them, fumbling slightly with her gun as she tried to lift it.

"Amy, Rory," the Hatter said quickly, her voice stern, keeping her eyes on Restac, "Get inside the TARDIS, _now_ ," she ordered as the Doctor reached inside his blazer.

"You did this!" Restac snarled, managing to lift the gun, aiming it towards the Time Lords.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Rory shouted, realising what was about to happen, running in front of them, and pushing them out of the way as Restac fired, hitting him.

"Rory!" Amy screamed as he cried out in pain, collapsing onto the ground. She ran to his side, falling onto her knees beside him, trying to comfort him as he continued to wail and shake in pain.

"Rory!" the Hatter cried frantically, struggling to stand, having fallen when Rory had pushed her and the Doctor out of the firing line. She and the Doctor hurried over to him, quickly kneeling beside him. The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver out, flashing it over him, "Rory!" she tried calling to him, feeling panic and fear for him wash over her as she put a hand on his sweaty forehead, "Can you hear us?" she asked.

"I don't understand," he groaned, looking fearfully up at them.

"Shh, shh," Amy tried soothing him, stroking his face, "Don't talk," she looked over to the Time Lords, her eyes wide with fear, "Is he okay?" she said urgently, "We have to get him into the TARDIS…"

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged grim looks, the blonde struggling to hold back tears.

"We were on the hill," Rory breathed, and Amy looked back to him, grasping his hand tightly, "I can't die here".

Amy's eyes filled with tears, "Don't say that," she whispered desperately, shaking her head.

He stared up at her, a soft smile crossing his face, "You're so beautiful…" he murmured before wincing painfully, closing his eyes tightly, "I'm sorry".

And with one final breath, his head lulled to the side, and his expression smothered out, looking peaceful.

"Doctor…Hatter…" Amy said shakily, only just holding back sobs, her gaze fixed on Rory, "Help him!"

The Hatter swallowed back her own tears, knowing that Amy needed them to be strong now, and reached out her hand to rest on Amy's shoulder. The Doctor glanced back over to the crack, only to see shoots of energy reaching out and touching Rory's feet. It was too late.

He stood, taking the Hatter's hand and helping her to stand as she wobbled slightly unsteadily before righting herself, looking even paler. He helped her over to the TARDIS before turning back to Amy, "Amy, move away from the light," he told her firmly, holding out a hand towards her, eyeing the light as it crept closer to her, "If it touches you you'll be wiped from history," Amy made no move to stand, staring heartbreakingly down at Rory's face, "Amy, move away now," he tried again.

"No!" Amy shouted angrily, not looking away from Rory, "I am _not_ leaving him! We have to _help_ him!"

The Time Lady winced painfully, clutching onto the side of the TARDIS, "Amelia, I'm so, so, sorry," she said gently, wishing she could do something, anything to change what had happened, "But we can't help him, not anymore," she swallowed, hard, "It's too late".

The Doctor put his hand on Amy's shoulder, glancing worriedly at the light, "The lights already around him, Amy," he informed her, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I am not leaving him!"

"We have to," he began trying to pull her away from Rory.

"No!" she yelled, trying to pull against him, clutching onto Rory.

"I'm sorry!" he pulled her back, forcing her to let go of Rory.

"Get off me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Get off me!"

The Hatter, trying to shut out the sound of Amy's cries, pushed the door open as the Doctor dragged Amy inside the console as she struggled and fought against him, before stepping in after them, closing the door behind her, moving back as the Doctor flashed his sonic at the lock. She wished that she could have helped more, but in her weakened condition even standing upright without support was beginning to become too much.

"No!" Amy cried, trying to hit and slap them away from the door, "No! No!" she screamed as the Doctor let her go and took the Hatter's hand, helping her up to the controls as Amy pounded on the door, trying to get out, "Let me out, please let me out!" she practically begged, "I need to get to Rory!"

The Doctor guided the Time Lady over to the closet jump seat, helping her to sit down, his face determined as he stepped over to the controls, and clicked a switch, bringing up an image of what was happening outside on the large monitor.

Amy whirled back around, sobbing with tears streaming down her face, when she caught sight of Rory on the monitor, the light slowly enveloping him, "That light…" she gasped, watching the image, "If his body's absorbed, I'll forget him," she shook her head, horrified, "He'll never have existed," she spun around to look at the Time Lords, her voice shaking, "You can't let that happen".

The Hatter hung her head, closing her eyes tightly, while the Doctor took a moment to steady himself before reaching forward and pulling a lever, setting them off.

"What are you doing?" Amy demanded, racing up to the console as the Time Rotor started, and the sound of the engines filled the room, "Doctor, no!" she screamed hysterically, trying to grab the lever, but the Doctor reached for her hands, struggling to pull them away from the controls, "No!"

The Hatter shakily climbed onto her feet and hurried around the edge of the console to them, trying to help the Doctor hold off Amy's assault as the girl started slapping at them as they wrapped their arms around her. The Time Lady winced as some of the hits made contact to her around tender body, but she ignored it. Amy needed them now and she knew better than anyone just how badly grief could make someone behaviour, in fact, she would have been more concerned if Amy hadn't acted this way.

"No!" Amy cried out tearfully, some of the fight leaving her as she grasped onto their arms, instead, "We can't just leave him there!" she sobbed, completely heartbroken.

"Amy, please listen," the Hatter said urgently, tightening her hold on Amy's arm and shoulder, trying to make sure that she really was listening, knowing that this might be their last hope for Amy to remember Rory, "You have to remember Rory, keep him in your mind. Remember every detail, his smile, his laugh, all those stupid little things that he did that made you laugh," she gave her a little shake, " _Don't_ forget him, Amelia, not for one moment, otherwise he'll be lost to you forever".

"On the Byzantium…" she said desperately, tears streaking down her face, "I still remembered the Clerics because I am a time traveller, now you said…"

The Doctor sighed heavily, looking at her sadly, "They weren't part of your world. This is different…this is your own history changing".

"Don't tell me it's going to be okay," she shook her head, looking between them, "You have to make it _okay_!"

"Then you need to focus, Amelia," the Hatter told her quickly, her voice firm, "It's not going to be easy, in fact, in might just be the hardest thing you will ever do, but you _can_ do it".

The Doctor began to guide Amy over to one of the jump seats, "Tell us about Rory, eh?" he encouraged her, forcing his voice to sound bright as he and the Hatter knelt in front of Amy, "Fantastic Rory!" he continued in the same tone, "Funny Rory, gorgeous Rory…" Amy started blinking tiredly, almost as if she was struggling to focus her thoughts on Rory, "Amy, listen to us. Do exactly as we say," he urged her, holding her shoulders, "Amy, please. Keep concentrating. You _can_ this".

Amy tried, looking past them before turning back to them, shaking her head helpless, "I can't," she whispered.

"Yes, you _can_ ," the Hatter insisted at once, giving Amy a comforting smile, "Of course you can, you're Amy Pond. You _can_ do this".

"We can't help you unless you do," the Doctor sighed heavily, giving Amy's shoulders a shake, "Come on," he tried again as Amy looked away from, "We can still save his memory. Come on, Amy. Please…"

Amy's stared off into space, desperately trying to think about Rory, to keep him in her mind. His laughter, his smile, all the things that they had been through together…everything that made Rory Rory she forced herself to remember.

"You can do this, Amy," the Time Lady said firmly, wanting to touch her arm, but she was afraid that she would brake Amy's concentration, "Remember him, only him. Don't let anything distract you, just keep him in your mind. Remember all that you've done together".

"Keep remembering," the Doctor nodded, watching as Amy tried so hard to remember, "Rory is only alive in your memory. You must keep hold of him. Don't let anything distract you," he repeated, being careful not to shake her as she stared off into space, "Rory still lives in your mind…"

Suddenly, the TARDIS jolted as it materialised, sending them sprawling across the floor. The Hatter groaned loudly as she landed hard beside the Doctor, the sudden landing causing sharp pains to shoot through her entire body, but she froze when she looked up. She and the Doctor's eyes widened as they caught sight of the ring box that Rory had left sitting on the console land on the ground inches from their faces. They stared at it for a long moment, neither of them quite knowing what they should do.

Amy sat up beside them, pulling herself up on the railing, "What were you saying?" she asked, her voice sounding bright as she looked over to them with a small smile.

The Doctor helped the Hatter to sit up as they exchanged horrified looks before turning back to stare at Amy. The jolt had distracted her, she had completely forgotten Rory, and now there was nothing they could do try and bring even just a little bit of him back. She frowned at them both, looking very confused at their strange behaviour as she stood.

Mo and Elliot appeared at the top of the stairs, both looking around the room with amazed expressions, while Ambrose followed just behind them, "I have seen some things today, but this is beyond mad," Mo remarked, making his way down the stairs.

Amy grabbed the stopwatch, checking it, "Doctor, Hatter," her head snapped back up to look at them, "Five seconds till it all goes up," she informed them.

The Doctor grabbed the ring box, pocketing it quickly before Amy could notice, and helping the Hatter up. They hurried down the steps and over to the doors, throwing them open as the others followed, stepping outside in the churchyard overlooking the drill, just as it exploded. They watched as the smoke and flames billowed up into the sky, the Time Lords still trying to wrap their minds around what just happened to Amy.

Slowly, they began to make their way back up towards the church, Elliot, Mo, and Amy walking past the Time Lords and Ambrose as they stood in the doorway to the church, the Time Lady leaning heavily into the Doctor as he supported her, both of them attempting to hide that there was something wrong with the blonde.

"All Nasreen's work just erased," Amy said as she past them.

"Good thing she's not here to see it," Mo commented, sounding amused, "She's going to give Tony hell when they wake up".

Ambrose stared out over the graveyard, waiting until they had rounded the corner of the church before turning to face the Time Lords, "You could've let those things shoot me," she said quietly to them, her hands in her pockets, "You saved me".

"That's not how we do things," the Hatter replied, her voice slightly strained, but Ambrose didn't seem to notice, "Killing for killing isn't the way, how can you possibly learn from the mistake if you're dead? And besides…" she gave Ambrose a small, wary smile, "Now you can teach your son to do better then you, how there's always another way, and as parents, isn't that what we're supposed to do? Try to make sure that the next generation doesn't make the same mistakes as we did?"

"You make him the best of humanity," the Doctor nodded along with her as Ambrose listened, swallowing slightly, "In the way you couldn't be".

The Time Lords gave her a gentle smile as Ambrose slowly returned it, nodding. The Hatter reached out and pattered her arm as she and the Doctor turned, stepping down the steps, and walking over to Amy. They said their goodbyes to Mo and Elliot before heading back through the graveyard towards the TARDIS.

"You two are very quiet," Amy said over her shoulder, glancing back to them. She frowned slightly as she noticed how pale and shaky the Hatter appeared, but as she came to a stop, she caught sight of something on the hill in the distance, "Oh!" she broke into a smile, "Hey, look! There I am again! Hello, me!" she called, waving at her future self in the distance.

The Time Lords paused, following her gaze to see Amy's future self-waving back to her, looking quite lonely without Rory's future self-beside her. They looked back to Amy, watching as a frown crossed her face, looking confused and sad.

"Everything alright, Amy?" the Hatter asked, concerned as she eyed Amy's expression. Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she couldn't help but feel just a bit hopeful that Amy hadn't completely forgotten Rory.

She continue to stare at the hill, the same expression on her face, "I thought I saw something else there for a second," she sighed slightly as the future self-walked away. She turned to the Time Lords, her voice growing brighter, "I need a holiday," she announced, heading over to the TARDIS, "Didn't we talk about Rio?"

The Time Lords exchanged a disappointed look, "You go in," the Doctor told her, reaching inside his pocket for his key, inserting it into the lock as Amy waited, "Just fix this lock…" he invented, glancing at her, giving her a small smile, "Keeps jamming".

Amy shock her head at him as he pushed the door open for her, laughing slightly as she glanced at the Hatter, who fixed a smile onto her face, "Your boy and his locksmithery," she smirked, stepping through the doorway, and shutting the door behind her.

The Hatter's smile faded the moment the door was shut, feeling to sore and drained after everything to smile. She watched as the Doctor reached inside his blazer and withdrew the hanky from his pocket, both of them looking at it as he unwrapped the cloth from around the object…they froze, their eyes widening as the object was revealed.

The Doctor quickly held up the piece of charred wood up against the sign on the TARDIS door, staring at it, horrified as it matched perfect to the edge of the sign perfectly, save for the charring. The TARDIS, it was an exploding TARDIS that caused the cracks.

"Please tell me this isn't happening," the Hatter breathed, unable to take her eyes off the piece of wood. Not the TARDIS, it just couldn't be the TARDIS, she refused to accept it.

The Doctor swallowed thickly and quickly covered the piece back up, stuffing it inside his blazer, feeling ill just looking at it, "We'll deal with that later," he said after a moment, knowing that they didn't have time to fret over that, not right now.

She sighed heavily, nodding grimly, knowing that he was right. She tried to give him a comforting look as she kissed his cheek, wishing that she could do more to try and comfort him, but in her current condition she couldn't do very much.

They tried to put the TARDIS possibly exploding out of their minds as they pushed the door open, and stepped inside. Amy looked up as they entered, but she frowned worriedly as she watched them make their way up the steps toward the controls, just as the Hatter's legs finally gave way beneath her and she groaned loudly as the Doctor, having expected it to happen, pulled her into his arms.

"Hatter!" Amy cried, her eyes widening as she hurried forward to help.

"I'm afraid I have a bit of a confession to make, Amy," the Hatter mumbled, her eyes closed tightly as the Doctor carefully settled her on one of the jumps seats, looking at her worriedly as he tried to rub soothing circles on her back, hating seeing her in pain when there was nothing he could do to help her. She opened her eyes and looked up at Amy, grimacing painfully, "I was poisoned, just like Tony".

The red head frowned at her again, moving closer, unsure of just what she should do, "But what does that mean?" she questioned, confused, "You're a Time Lord…you'll be okay, right?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, she shuddered painfully and whimpered, gripping the Doctor tightly as the pain slowly passed, leaving her breathless, "Shh, it'll pass," the Doctor murmured, holding her closer to his chest, kissing the top of her head, "Just breath".

She took a moment to try and catch her breath, before looking back up to Amy, giving her a grim smile, "Do you remember when I told you about regeneration?" Amy nodded quickly, "Good, that'll save time. Well…this is it, regeneration. My poisoning triggered it".

"But…you can't just…change!" Amy shook her head, her eyes wide. Her head snapped over to the Doctor, "You can fix it…"

"It's too late," the Doctor cut across her, his voice flat.

"No, but there's always another way…"

"Amy," the Hatter said quietly, making Amy's instantly look back to her. She tried to give her a pained smile, "It's okay," she assured her gently, reaching out a hand to touch her arm, "Really, I've been expecting this to happen and it's okay," her smile turned brighter as she looked at the Doctor, "We've had some great times, haven't we, sweetheart?"

The Doctor gave her a broad smile, tears brimming in his eyes as he took her hand and lightly placed a kiss on it, just like his last regeneration had so often done, "The greatest of the great," he agreed at once.

"Our engagement, Jenny, our wedding…" the Time Lady laughed softly, reaching up to cup his cheek, "And so much more, so many wonderful friendships and adventures. I have treasured it all, sweetheart".

"So have I, dear," he nodded, struggling to stop himself from breaking down completely.

She turned back to Amy, giving her a smile as Amy blinked back tears, too, "Everything is going to be okay, Amy," she said gently, wanting to try and comfort the girl, knowing how hard it was probably going to be for her to understand, "I'm still going to be me, just…different".

"But it won't be," Amy argued.

"It'll be hard at first, to see past the physical side and possible personality changes, but it will still be me. It will still be the Hatter. Regeneration tends to bring out different sides of a person, it doesn't completely rewrite there personality….or, at least, I've been lucky enough to avoid that. Hopefully, I'll manage it again, Time Ladies are much better at influencing their regeneration energy then Time Lords are. Romana even managed to pick and choose who she looked like".

"But _you're_ the Hatter…"

She smiled at her again, "And I always will be, it's just…it's come for this me to step back and let someone else have a turn," she pattered her arm lightly, her smile softening, "This isn't the end, Amelia, just the next chapter to hopefully another exciting time in my life, and I am so very glad that you have been a part of it," tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to stand up right, grasping the railing with shaking hands as she turned back to face the Doctor and Amy. She swallowed, hard, "It's almost time".

The Doctor tried to give her a bright smile, "Everything is going to be okay, Hatter," he assured her.

She nodded at him, blinking back tears, "I know," she said to him, "You're here," she took a deep breath, glancing down at her hand on the railing to see the golden regeneration energy rippling across her skin, feeling the warmth growing hotter and hotter beneath her skin. Carefully, she slipped her engagement and wedding rings off, not wishing to loss them, and stepped forward, placing them onto the Doctor open palm, "You had better put them back on the moment I wake up," she told him in a mock stern voice, making him laugh weakly, tucking the rings safely inside his pocket. She glanced down at her hand and back up to him, laughing, "And here I thought my skin didn't tan," she remarked, noticing the faint tan line around her finger.

"Laughing until the end, Hatter?" he commented softly, lightly brushing some of her hair behind her ear, not surprised in the slightest. She always did prefer to handle her regenerations with humour.

She gave him a wink that was still cheeky, even though her eyes were filled with tears, "Always, sweetheart," she leaned forward and kissed him tenderly, wishing that it could last longer as she forced herself to pull back, tears slipping down her cheeks, "I love you, Doctor".

"I love you, too. Always".

The Hatter took a deep breath and forced herself to move away from him, giving Amy a quick hug, "Everything is going to be okay, I promise," she whispered in her ear, before letting her go as Amy cried softly.

The Doctor stepped forward, placing himself in front of Amy as they both watched the Hatter step further away from them, not wishing to accidently hurt Amy. She looked down her hand, watching the golden energy swirl around her hand with a resigned expression, before giving the Doctor and Amy one final smile as the energy grew brighter and bright, and suddenly bursting out from her arms and head, the sound of her cries echoing around the room as she regenerated.

Amy and the Doctor flinched at the sounds, shielding their eyes against the bright light, when the regeneration ended and the woman before them stumbled backwards, her face obscured by shoulder length, wavy brown hair.

The Hatter, or rather the new her was taller than her previous regeneration, now standing around 5'11, making her the same height as Amy, with an athletic, slim build, and pale skin. Slowly, she pushed her hair back from her face, revealing a pretty face, hazel green almond shaped eyes, a long and slim nose with a slight curve at the tip. Her cheek bones were less sharp then her past self and her chin was shorter, but more pointed, and she looked about twenty five.

As she caught sight of the Doctor and Amy, she broke into a wide, slightly manic grin, a dimple forming in her right cheek, "Hello…ooh!" she broke off, looking delighted as she practically skipped over to them, throwing her arms around Amy and the Doctor's shoulders as Amy stared at her, shocked, "Did you hear that? British accent, I've got a British accent…not as fun as a Scottish one, can't complain as much and get away with it, but not bad!"

"Hatter…" the Doctor began slowly, looking slight concerned, "Are you sure you're feeling alright? Don't want to lie down?"

"Oh, sweetheart, perhaps you're right, I am feeling rather…" her voice grew softer as her grip on them started slacking, "…strange…" she mumbled, her eyes growing heaver.

Suddenly, she fell forward, unconscious, but the Doctor caught her before she hit the ground and quickly picked her up, laughing slightly, "She always does that," he remarked, simply happy that she was okay. She just needed rest now, she would be fine once she woke. She always did handle regeneration much better then him.

Amy simply stared after him as he happily headed off down the hallway, completely shocked by what she had just witnessed, still trying to process everything. What on Earth did she do now?

 _ **Did anyone see that coming? We've got the Eleventh Hatter, I've got to say, I'm very excited to write her, though, I am very sorry to have to say goodbye to the Tenth Hatter. She's been so much fun to write, I'm certainly going to miss her. If anyone is interested to see who I see her looking like, it would be Phoebe Tonkin, only with pale skin, rather than olive.**_

 _ **I can't decide, should I have her picking out her new outfit at the start of the next chapter or would it be better in a one-shot? If I was to do it as a one-shot, I would still describe the outfit in the next chapter, I just wouldn't go into detail of her picking it out. I suppose that I could still do both…anyway, I can't decide. Any ideas?**_

 _ **Also, I'm planning to post 'The Two Doctors and Hatters' tomorrow. Finally.**_

 _ **Poor Rory, I'm going to miss him, but his reaction to seeing the new Hatter should be fun. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	19. Chapter 19 Vincent and the Time Lords,P1

_**Vincent and the Time Lords, Part 1**_

Amy was practically trembling with excitement, grinning broadly as she grasped the railing behind her while the Doctor and the Hatter danced around the controls, the Time Lady's brown hair flying about around her, such a contrast to her last regenerations straight blonde hair.

A week had passed since the Hatter had regenerated and Amy was still trying to get used to seeing a completely different woman every time she looked at her. Even her voice was different, she rather missed hearing her old Scottish accent, but she was starting to get used to it. She hadn't changed that much, just little things that she had noticed. The Hatter had been delighted, for instance, to discover that she was now left handed, something she had apparently never been before. She also seemed to prefer savoury food, rather than sweet and she had developed a taste for yellow and pink.

Amy still couldn't quite understand what made the Time Lady think that yellow and pink would be good colours to wear, but somehow, she managed to pull it off. Gone were the boots, replaced with a pair of bright yellow Oxford lace-up shoes, navy blue tights, and a black sued, A-line skirt with white buttons running up the front. The Hatter had paired that with a thick, bright yellow belt and a dark, hot pink, long sleeved top that she had tucked into the skirt, something that Amy had suggested. She had a small, silver and crystal star brooch pinned to the front of her top, over which she had a black leather jacket, and her rings and necklace were back in their usual place, but the thing that the Hatter was most proud of was her fedora hat. It had been the first thing she had picked out and had then tried to find a way to build the rest of the outfit around it with its two colour tones of black and dark, hot pink and the patented leather strap around the middle of it.

The shaking of the TARDIS calmed before stilling completely as they landed. Amy quickly turned to the Time Lords, only just holding herself back from running out the doors, "Have we arrived?" she asked excitedly.

The Hatter laughed, exchanging an amused look with the Doctor, "Yes, we've arrived," she nodded to her, reminded of a small child. She waved a hand towards the door, her eyes twinkling, "Off you pop".

Her grin grew wider as she practically flew down the steps of the console, dashing across to the doors as the Time Lords linked arms and followed after her. They stepped outside, finding themselves outside a large, modern looking building called 'the Musee D'Orsay,' with snow scattered across the pavement before them as they made their way over to the front doors, walking through a large, very high ceilinged room, passing groups of tourists as they went.

They hurried up a set of marble stairs, pausing briefly to admire a large stature of a man holding the head of a Gorgon before Amy managed to drag them away, darting up more steps and up into a room with beautiful, landscape paintings lining the walls. The Hatter thought that a few of them might be Monet's work, but they continued through the room, not pausing to admire any of the paintings.

As they stepped into the next room they found exactly the exhibit that the Time Lords had been looking for, Vincent Van Gogh, since it was Amy's favourite painter. They stepped further into the room, looking around as groups of people stood around the edges of the room, admiring the beautiful paintings on display on the grey walls.

"So this is one of the last paintings Van Gogh _ever_ painted," an older man in a bow tie was telling a group of tourist, gesturing towards a large painting, the 'Wheatfield with Crows' behind him, "Those final months of his life were probably the most astonishing artistic outpouring in history," he informed them, "It was like Shakespeare knocking off 'Othello,' 'Macbeth,' and 'King Lear' over the summer hols," a few people in the group laughed, "And especially astonishing because Van Gogh did it with no hope of praise or reward…"

The Doctor smiled at Amy, holding up a hand as he gave a little twirl, gesturing around to all the paintings as they moved into the middle of the room.

Amy nudged him with the end of her scarf, returning the smile, almost shyly, "Thanks for bringing me," she said to them, lowering her voice slightly.

The Hatter grinned at her, throwing her arm around Amy's shoulders, surprising the girl, "You are very welcome," she told her happily, her eyes flying around the paintings, her eyes lingering for a moment on the painting of irises in a garden, remembering her past regenerations love for the flowers, "You're not the only one who's a Van Gogh fan," she finished with a wink.

"You're being so nice to me," Amy remarked, before frowning at them, narrowing her eyes suspiciously, " _Why_ are you being so nice to me?"

"We're always nice to you," the Doctor argued, turning back to her.

"Not like this," she shook her head, still eyeing them, "These places you're taking me...Arcadia, the Trojan Gardens, now this!" she nodded around the room as he sighed slightly, crossing his arms, exchanging a quick look with the Hatter. The red head frowned at them, "I think it's suspicious".

"Of course it's not suspicious," the Time Lady told her at once, shifting slightly uneasily, "Why would it be suspicious? That's just silly," she suddenly pointed a stern finger at her, sounding very serious, "Don't be silly, Amy, unless you _are_ silly, then you don't have a choice so you should embrace it," she paused, something dawning on her as Amy stared at her, "That was a joke, wasn't it?" she sighed slightly.

"Ah…yeah," she nodded, looking in-between them, her frown deepening. She couldn't quite tell if it was just this new Hatter, or something else entirely, "Why aren't you two?" she questioned.

She opened and closed her mouth, glancing at the Doctor, "Ooh, look!" she suddenly exclaimed, trying hard not to sound to fake as she pointed across the room, "A painting of 'Almond Blossoms,' how delightful!"

The Doctor leaned closer to the Time Lady's ear as Amy was distracted, "Nice save," he whispered, amused.

A faint blush spread across the Hatter's cheeks, "Yes, well…I panicked," she muttered, "It would seems this regeneration just doesn't know when to stop talking sometimes".

He smiled, kissing her cheek, "I think it's cute, now you can't call _me_ motor-mouth".

"Cute?" she repeated, sounding almost offended, "I'm not cute, I'm…" he leaned in again, whispering something that made her cheeks turn an even darker shade of red. She coughed, embarrassed as she nudged his side, "Let's not go there in public, sweetheart," she scolded lightly after a moment, trying hard to regain her composer.

The Doctor simply smiled wider, wrapping an arm around her waist as he pulled her closer, very much enjoying watching the blush spread across her pale cheeks. This regeneration was much easier for him to tease then her previous one had been, though, she was still just as capable of teasing him back as she had ever been.

"Each of these paintings now is worth tens of millions of pounds," the older man in the bowtie was still saying to the group of people before him, Amy and the Time Lords moved closer, listening, "Yet in his lifetime, he was a commercial disaster. Sold only one painting, and that to the sister of a friend," Amy looked down at the small guidebook in her hand, while the Time Lords were briefly distracted by two boys, seeming to be bickering about something a short distance away, "We have here possibly the greatest artist of all time," the man continued, drawing their attention back to him, "But when he died, you could have sold his entire body of work and got about enough money to buy…a sofa….and a couple of chairs," the group around him laughed. He chuckled slightly, "If you follow me now…" he turned and led them across the room to another painting.

"Who is it?" one of the boy's that the Time Lords had noticed asked, catching their attention.

"It's the doctor!" the second boy called, and they turned to see them looking at the 'Portrait of Dr Gachet'. The Hatter pattered the Doctor's arm, giving him an amused look, knowing that he had thought they were talking about him, "He was the doctor who took care of Van Gogh when he started to go mad," he told his friend.

"I knew that," the first boy muttered as they moved on to the next painting.

"Look!" Amy suddenly shouted, growing excited again as she grabbed the Doctor and the Hatter's arms, dragging them across the room towards a painting of a church, a small plaque beside it reading, 'Church at Auvers,' "There it is, the actual one," she grinned, holding up the guidebook with an image of the same picture on the page.

The Doctor smiled at her, "Yes," he agreed, turning to admire the real picture in front of them, "You can almost feel his hand painting it right in front of you," he commented, mimicking painting something in mid-air, "Carving the colours into shapes…"

"Hang on…" the Hatter cut in, squinting at the painting, moving as close to it as she could without worrying about setting off any alarms, "That's not right," she frowned, shaking her head, "That's very not right at all".

"What?" Amy questioned, casting her a curious look.

The Doctor cast the painting another look, "Oh!" he said, catching on to what the Time Lady had spotted, a frown crossing his own face.

"Exactly," the Time Lady nodded to him, pointing at the spot, "See, Amy?" she glanced at her, "That's not supposed to be there".

Amy simply looked even more confused, "What?"

The Doctor looked back to the painting, scratching the back of his head, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "Something very not good indeed".

"What thing very not good?"

"It's right there," the Hatter pointed again, making sure that Amy was actually looking as she did so, "Look at the window of the church".

Amy narrowed her eyes slightly, frowning as she noticed what appeared to be a strange creature looking back through one of the church's windows, though it was quite hard to make out exactly what it was supposed to be, "Is it a face?" she asked.

"Yes," the Doctor answered, his voice soft as he eyed the thing in the window, "And not a nice face at all," he sighed, looking troubled, "I know evil when I see it and I see it in that window".

"We're going to need to consult an expert," the Hatter remarked thoughtfully, turning around, her eyes moving to rest on the man still talking to the group of people at a different picture. Ah, yes, he seemed ideal.

The Time Lords hurried across the room and over to the man, Amy trailing behind them, "…it has changed hands for something in the region of twenty…" the man was saying to the group.

"Excuse us," the Doctor interrupted as they reached him, making the entire group look at them, "If we can just interrupt for one second," he reached inside his pocket and withdrew the psychic paper, waving it around at the group and man, "Sorry, everyone. Routine inspection," he lied, turning to the man, "Ministry of Art and…Artiness," the Hatter struggled not to laugh, "So, um…" he raised his eyebrows at the man, putting the paper back inside his pocket.

"Doctor Black," the man introduced himself, looking at them strangely.

"Hello!" the Hatter said brightly to him, nodding, trying to look as if she had already known that, "Yes, of course you are," she cleared her throat slightly, realising she was doing a rather poor job at acting as she quickly pointed across the room, towards the church painting, "We were just wondering if you could tell us when that picture was painted?" she questioned.

"Ah, well," Black nodded, glancing over towards the painting, "Ah, well, what an interesting question. Most people imagine…"

"We're going to have to hurry you," the Doctor said quickly, seeing that this was going to turn into quite a long story, "When was it?"

"Exactly?"

"As exactly as you can," he confirmed, "Without a long speech, if poss. We're in a hurry".

"Bit of a long trip ahead of us," the Hatter added, trying hard not to laugh at her own joke.

"Well, in that case, probably somewhere between the first and third of June".

"What year?" the Doctor asked at once.

"1890," Black replied, "Less than a year before…" he hesitated for a moment, looking back to them, seeming to be finding it hard to talk about, "Before he killed himself," he finished after a moment.

He broke into a smile, "Thank you, sir," he nodded to him, "Very helpful indeed. Nice bowtie…" he pointed to the man's tie, glancing back to Amy, "Bowtie's are cool," he told her pointedly, and Amy rolled her eyes.

The Hatter grinned at him, reaching up to ruffle his hair, "They certainly are," she agreed, her eyes twinkling. While she might no longer wear bracers and a bowtie, that didn't mean she didn't think the Doctor looked quite handsome in them.

Black smiled faintly, pointing at the Doctor's blue bowtie, "Yours is very…"

"Oh, thank you," the Doctor laughed slightly, looking quite pleased, linking his arm with the Time Lady's. He pattered Black's shoulder, "Keep telling them stuff," he glanced over towards the group of people still watching the scene before turning around, grabbing Amy's hand with his free one, starting to pull her away through the exhibit, "We need to go," he said firmly.

"What about the other pictures?" Amy exclaimed, trying to look around at the pictures, not wanting to go yet.

"Never mind the pictures," the Time Lady said sternly, a frown settling on her face, "We've got more important things to do".

"Art can wait," the Doctor added, ushering her over to the exit, ignoring the looks the people in the room were giving them as they passed, "This is life and death," he pushed Amy through the doorway, striding after her with the brunet at his side, "We need to talk to Vincent Van Gogh".

….

The TARDIS materialised on the 1st of June, 1890, just to be safe so that they could have a day or so time gape to make sure that they didn't over or undershoot their time frame, though, knowing them, they might just end up doing that simply due to the Doctor's driving skills.

The Doctor opened the door and stepped out, Amy and the Hatter following behind him to find that they had landed in a narrow alleyway at night time, church bells rang somewhere in the distance as Amy closed the door behind her, grinning excitedly.

"Right, so here's the plan," the Doctor began, setting off down the alleyway, taking the Hatter's hand as he did so, "We find Vincent and he leads us straight to the church and our nasty friend".

"Easy peasy," Amy remarked happily.

"Perhaps…" the Hatter said slowly, not sounding the slightest bit convinced, "But somehow I highly doubt it will ever be that simple when it comes to Vincent," she sighed, exchanging a wary look with the Doctor, "He's not exactly the most…stable person, sadly".

The Doctor nodded in agreement, quickly checking his watch, "Now, he'll probably be in the local café," he guessed, looking up from his watch, waving his free hand around, "Sort of orangey light, chairs and tables outside…"

Amy pulled her guidebook out of her pocket, flickering through the pages until she came across a page with a picture of the front of a building, yellow light spilling out from the windows with chairs and tables scattered out the front of it, a small caption below the image reading, 'The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night'. She held it up for them to see, "Like this?" she asked.

"That's the one," the Doctor confirmed, glancing at the picture.

The Hatter stopped suddenly, making him stop, staring at something ahead of them, "Or rather exactly like that," she commented, sounding highly amused.

They both looked at her curiously, Amy lowering the book, only to find a café with a striking resemblance to the one they were just looking at just ahead of them, two waitress stood outside the front, cleaning tables while a man further up from them moved tables and chairs around. It was almost as if one of Vincent Van Gogh's paintings had leaped off the canvas and come to life right before their very eyes.

The Doctor grinned broadly, kissing the Time Lady's cheek quickly, making her smile softly at him, feeling quite pleased with herself, "Yeah, exactly like that," he laughed slightly.

They made their way over to the front of the café and Amy paused to compare the real café to the picture in her book, smiling widely, unable to quite believe that it was the actual café. When they had told her that they were off to see Vincent Van Gogh, she hadn't quite expecting to find herself stepping into one of his most famous paintings.

"Hello!" the Hatter called cheerfully as they approached the two waitresses and the man, coming to a stop before them. They looked up curiously, "Lovely night, isn't it?" she smiled brightly, waving a hand around, "Nice and starry, those are always the best," she paused, seeming to rethink what she had just said, "Unless there's a full moon, that's just asking for trouble".

The Doctor coughed, struggling not to laugh. This regeneration seemed to have a habit of rambling almost as much as he did, finding ways to contradict something she had just said. Only two days before she had said that she loved walking in the rain, except for when her socks got wet. She hated wet socks…or tights, now that she had taken to wearing tights again.

He cleared his throat and raised a hopeful eyebrow, stepping over to the man, "Does the name Vincent Van Gogh ring a bell?" he questioned the man, who appeared to be the owner of the cafe.

A disgruntled expression crossed the man's face, "Don't mention that man to me," he grumbled, hurrying inside the café.

The Time Lords exchanged looks, turning to the two waitress, "Excuse me," the Doctor stepped over to them, "Do you know Vincent Van Gogh?"

"Unfortunately," one of the waitress sighed heavily, straightening and putting her hands on her hips.

"Unfortunately?" Amy repeated, looking up from her guidebook with a frown.

"He's drunk, he's mad, and he never pays his bills".

"Yes, well, no one's perfect," the Hatter defended slightly awkwardly, trying to give them a bright smile, "But how about his painting? All those swirling colours and…" she trailed off slightly, her face falling as the two women burst out laughing, "…things," she finished warily.

The two women continued laughing, even a few patrons sitting at tables joined in, having heard the conversation. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged disappointed looks, moving to sit at one of the closet tables, taking each other's hands. They had known that people had thought that Vincent was mad, but it was another thing to actually witness it.

Loud voices sounded from inside the café, catching their attention, "Come on!" a man's voice came, arguing with someone, "Come on! One painting for one drink," Amy glanced at the doorway, while the Time Lords eyes lit up and they looked at each other, realising just who the voice belonged to, "That's not a bad deal!" he tried.

The owner stepped out of the café, holding a canvas in his hand, looking down at it with an annoyed expression. Another man followed closely behind him with red hair and a beard, the Time Lords and Amy looked across to each other, completely delighted as they recognised the man as Vincent Van Gogh himself. Amy did a little giddy dance on the spot, trying to stop herself from shouting as the Doctor, grinning broadly, pointed at Vincent, and the Hatter clapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"It wouldn't be a bad deal if the painting were any good," the owner rolled his eyes at the other man, shaking his head as he glanced back down to the canvas in his hand, "I can't hang that up on my walls. It'd scare the customers half to death," he held the canvas up beside Vincent's face, "It's bad enough having you in here in person, let alone looming over the customers day and night in a stupid hat," the Hatter made a offended sound, moving to stand, but the Doctor quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back down with a slightly alarmed look, "You pay money or get out".

"I'm more than happy to pay," the Hatter cut in brightly, making everyone look at her. She shrugged at them, deciding it was probably better not to mention that she didn't actually have any money to pay with, "A man who wears a hat is a friend to me," she nodded to Vincent.

"What?" the owner stared at her as if she was insane.

"Well, if you like, we'll pay for the drink," the Doctor agreed, nodding along with the Time Lady. He made a mental note about what she said about hats, imagining the delighted expression on her face if he did wear one, "Or we'll pay for the painting and _you_ can use the money to pay for the drink".

"Either way, we're not picky," the Time Lady added.

Vincent eyed them carefully, "Exactly who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh, we're…new in town," the Doctor replied, thinking quickly.

"Well, in that case, you don't know three things," he narrowed his eyes at them.

"Go on," he nodded to him.

"One, I pay for my own drinks, thank you…" he informed them, and the locals around them laughed loudly. He ignored their laughter, focusing on the Time Lords, "Two, no one ever buys any of my paintings or they would be laughed out of town," he continued, waving his hand around, while the Time Lords simply raised their eyebrows, "So if you want to stay in town, I suggest you keep your cash to yourselves. And three, your friends cute," he jerked his thumb behind him to Amy, who chocked back a laugh, "But you should keep your big nose out of other people's business," he pointed at the Doctor before turning back to face the owner, trying to push the canvas into his arms, "Come on, just one more drink. I'll pay tomorrow".

"No," the owner shook his head, moving back towards the café's front door, trying to escape him.

"Or, on the other hand, slightly more compassionately, yes?" Vincent tried hopefully.

The other man sighed, exasperated, "Or, on the other hand, to protect my business from madmen, no".

"Or…?"

"Oh, look, just shut up the pair of you!" Amy exclaimed, having enough of the arguing as she stepped over to them. The Doctor and the Hatter laughed softly as both men's eyes widened at the red head as she focused on the owner, "I would like a bottle of wine, please, which I will then share with whomever…" she looked at Vincent, giving him a small smile, "I choose".

The Hatter leaned closer to the Doctor's ear, "Is it just me, or is it a little weird to watch Amy flirt with another man?" she whispered to him, feeling a pang of sadness as she thought of Rory.

"I know," the Doctor murmured back, nodding as he took her hand again, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. He knew exactly how she was feeling, watching Amy flirting someone else just seemed so strange and made the entire situation even sadder.

Vincent returned Amy's smile, "That could work," he said to her.

"That's good for me," the owner agreed.

"Good," Amy smirked, strolling off into the café. The owner followed after her, but paused and shoved the canvas into Vincent's chest, heading inside the café.

Vincent sighed slightly and looked down at his 'Self Portrait with Straw Hat,' before glancing over at the Time Lords, who exchanged broad smiles.

"Better not keep Amy waiting," the Hatter remarked, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she stood, the Doctor following suit.

Vincent blinked slightly, nodding as he quickly hurried off into the café after Amy, leaving the Time Lords to laugh quietly at just how taken he already seemed to be by the red head.

…...

The Doctor and the Hatter sat beside each other at a table towards the back of the café, their hands entwined on the table, while Amy and Vincent sat across from them, drinking their wine. The room was filled with tables, some occupied with other people enjoying their drinks in the dimly lit space.

"That accent of yours," Vincent began, eyeing Amy curiously beside him, "You're from Holland like me?"

"Yes," the Doctor said quickly at the same as Amy responded with a, "No," and sent the Doctor a confused look.

The Hatter cleared her throat quickly, looking between Amy and the Doctor, "She was born and raised their, but she's spent a several years travelling," she lied to Vincent, giving him a small smile, hoping she sounded believable.

"Yes, exactly," the Doctor nodded to the Time Lady, sending Amy a pointed look to play along before turning back to Vincent, "Anyway, let's start again," he broke into a smile, holding a hand out to the Hatter, "This is my lovely wife, the Hatter…"

"It's wonderful to finally meet you," the Hatter reached across the table, grabbing Vincent's hand and shaking it enthusiastically, while the poor man blinked, startled slightly, "Truly, I can't believe it's taken this long, but you know how it is," she released his hand, shrugging, "You plan to do something and end up getting side tracked by an alien invasion, it's always the way. I once attended a royal wedding…can't quite recall which, they all tend to blend in, don't they? Anyway, so I attended the wedding and…"

The Doctor cleared his throat quickly, "You're rambling, dear," he whispered to her.

"Oh," she blinked, looking slightly sheepish as she glanced back to Vincent, who was looking very, very confused. She gave him an apologetic smile, "Never mind, just…it's lovely to meet you".

"She tends to ramble when she gets excited," the Doctor said to Vincent, giving him a friendly smile, holding out a hand, "Hello, I'm the Doctor…"

"I knew it!" Vincent glared at him, not taking his hand, looking annoyed.

He frowned slightly, confused, letting his hand drop back down onto the table, "Sorry?" he questioned.

"My brother's always sending doctors, but you won't be able to help".

"Oh no, not that kind of doctor…" the Doctor shook his head, laughing slightly at the misunderstanding, when something caught his eye. He pointed across the table to it, "That's incredible, don't you think?" he nodded to the girls.

Vincent followed his gaze and lifted a half unfinished painting called, 'La Meridienne' up for them to see, glancing at the picture with a small, confused frown.

"Beautiful," the Hatter agreed at once, letting her eyes drift over the picture, taking it in. She might not have known very much about art, nor was she talented in creating it, but she loved looking at it.

"Absolutely," Amy nodded, smiling at the painting, "One of my favourites".

Vincent narrowed his eyes at Amy, "'One of you favourite' what's?" he eyed her carefully, "You've never seen my work before".

"Ah, yes," her eye's widened slightly, realising her mistake as she glanced quickly across to the Time Lords, "One of my favourite paintings that I've ever seen," she lifted her glass, taking a sip of her wine, "Generally".

"Then you can't have seen many paintings, then," he commented, glancing back to his half-finished painting, sighing slightly, "I know it's terrible. It's the best I can do," he leant the painting against the wall beside their table, turning back to face her, looking at her curiously, "Your hair is…orange".

Amy leaned closer to him, "Yes, so's yours".

"Yes," he answered, moving his head slightly, looking at her more closely, "It was more orange, but now is…" the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged looks, both feeling the sudden urge to be anywhere but at that table, listening to Vincent and Amy flirting. It was just embarrassing, "…of course, less," he finished, seeming unable to look away from Amy.

"Blimey, we're not that bad, are we?" the Time Lady muttered to the Doctor.

"Of course not, dear," the Doctor whispered back, kissing her cheek quickly, "We're the king and queen of flirting…" he frowned, shaking his head, "No, forget I said that. That's just…"

"Extremely embarrassing for you?" she said teasingly, raising an eyebrow at him, "Oh, I know, sweetheart".

He groaned slightly, letting his head drop onto her shoulder, "You're not going to forget that, are you?"

She grinned and put a finger under his chin, lifting his head up to meet his eyes, "Never".

"You're…mean, very mean".

"And you would think that you would know not to speak before thinking first around me. You just say the funniest thing's when you're trying to be flirty, or sound clever, or trying to impress me, or…"

"So, Vincent!" the Doctor said loudly, cutting across her quickly, his cheeks heating up. Amy and Vincent jumped slightly, startled by him as he cleared his throat, "Painted any churches recently?" he asked the man hurriedly, trying to ignore the Hatter's silently laughter beside him, "Any churchy plans?" he raised his eyebrows, "Are churches, chapels, religiously stuff like that, something you'd like to get into? You know, fairly soon?"

Vincent seemed to think about it for a moment, "Well, there is one church I'm thinking of painting when the weather is right," he told them.

"Interesting," the Hatter said slowly, exchanging a pointed look with the Doctor, "That's very interesting and good news," she turned back to Vincent, "I don't suppose you would consider painting it…say, within the next day or so?"

Suddenly, a woman screamed, grief stricken, and ran into the room.

"She's been murdered," a young woman gasped from somewhere in the room, sounding shocked.

The woman who screamed waved her arms around, "Help me!" she cried.

"That, on the other hand, isn't quite such good news," the Doctor jumped onto his feet, grabbing the Hatter's hand as she did the same thing. They turned and ran for the door, "Come on, Amy, Vincent!" he called over his shoulder.

Amy quickly stood and hurried after them, while Vincent took a moment to finish his wine before following. More screaming echoed up the street as the four of them dashed out of the café, following the sound as they ran down street until they came across a large crowd of people gathered around something in the middle of the street, all looking horrified, some sobbing loudly.

"She's been ripped to shreds!" a man in the group shouted.

"Please, let us look!" the Doctor urged the crowd as he and the Hatter tried to push their way through the crowd, only being able to catch sight of a hand lying on the cobblestones, "We're doctors!"

The Hatter didn't bother to correct him with his historical correctness since she doubted that anyone would actually notice that he had referred to her as a doctor, all of them being far to shocked and horrified by whatever had happened. She and the Doctor managed to push their way through the crowd, only to stop short at the terrible sight of a young girl lying on the cobblestones before them, large slashes, like claw marks running across her front.

"Who is it?" a woman in the crowd asked loudly.

"Oh, please, no…" the Time Lady breathed, horrified by the sight. The girl couldn't half been older then her early twenties, possibly even younger. She was practically a child. She swallowed thickly and knelt beside the body, trying to figure out what could have possibly have done this, and why?

"No, no, no, no…" the Doctor knelt beside the brunet, taking her hand before looking up to meet Vincent's eyes, who crouched down on the other side of the Hatter, looking very pale himself.

"Is she dead?" another man asked from behind them.

Suddenly, an older woman ran through the crowd, shoving people out of the way, "Away, all of you vultures! This is my daughter!" she gasped as her eyes fell onto her daughter's body, her knees giving way as she collapsed beside her, her hand moving to caress her daughters face.

The Hatter stood and stepped away, knowing that the woman needed space, closing her eyes tightly, feeling ill. She wanted to go to the woman and try to help her, but she knew that nothing she could do or say would help, not now when her entire world had just been destroyed. Any attempt to do so would only end in making things worse, she only wished that the poor woman didn't have to live the rest of her life with this image of her daughter like this.

"Giselle!" the Mother sobbed, clutching at her daughter, "What monster could have done this?" she caught sight of the Doctor, "Get away from her!" she snapped, suddenly furious.

"Okay!" the Doctor quickly jumped onto his feet, Vincent doing the same. He held up his hands as he backed away to stand beside the Hatter and Amy, "Okay!"

The Hatter took his hand, holding it tightly as she moved closer to his side. Witnessing a Mother's grief for their child was truly one of the things she hated the most in the Universe, and each and every time that it happened, her hearts broke for the Mother. There was nothing worse in the entire Universe, she knew that for certain and _nothing_ would ever take away that pain.

The Mother caught sight of Vincent, "Get that madman out of here!" she growled, grabbing a stone and throwing it at Vincent, who ducked, managing to dodge it. The rest of the crowd joined in, grabbing more stones and throwing them at them as they backed away, trying to shield themselves from being hit.

"Wow, hey!" the Doctor shouted, trying to push the Hatter out of hitting range as Amy yelped, covering her head.

The Hatter dodged under the Doctor's arm and ran to Amy's side, wrapping an arm around her waist, forcing her to duck down as they hurried back down the street, trying to get away from the angry crowd.

"You bring this on us!" the Mother yellowed after them, pointing at Vincent's back as they ran back down the street, "Your madness! You! He's to blame!"

They ran back through the street, trying to get as far away from the angry crowd as they could, rounding a corner and running through a narrow alleyway, coming to a stop. They panted from the running, the Hatter leaned against the alley wall, her head tilted back as she closed her eyes tightly, breathing heavily, while Vincent and the Doctor bent over, trying to catch their breath.

"Is everyone okay?" the Time Lady asked after a moment, opening her eyes to look around at the others, trying to shut out the horrible sounds of the Mother shouting from the next street. She desperately wished she could do something to help the woman, but there was nothing that anyone could do for her.

"Fine," Amy replied, waving a hand, still trying to catch her breath,

"Good, good," the Doctor nodded, moving to her side, running his eyes over her for any sign of injury, "You?"

The Hatter gave him a weak smile, patting his arm, "You know me, I'm excellent at dodging things…well, unless they're a ball," she seemed to rethink what she had said, "I played doge ball once and apparently, I was rubbish at it. It's not completely my fault, though, my companions decided to gang up on me and had a bet going on who could knock my hat off first".

"Typical," he laughed, able to imagine it.

She laughed along with him before turning to Vincent, casting him a quick look, realising that he hadn't said a word since they had been chased off, "What about you?" she asked, concerned, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm used to it," Vincent said grimly, waving her concern off.

"Has anything like this murder happened here before?" the Doctor questioned him, frowning.

"Only a week ago," he nodded sadly, "It's a terrible time".

"As I thought," the Doctor sighed heavily, exchanging a wary look with the Hatter, "As I thought," he linked his arm with the Time Lady and starting to head down the alleyway, glancing back to Vincent, "Come on, we'd better get you home".

Vincent moved to follow them, looking slightly concerned for them, "Where are you staying tonight?"

"Oh!" he exclaimed, delighted as he grinned at him, clapping Vincent's arm, "You're very kind".

And with that, he strolled off down the alleyway with the Time Lady, who struggled not to laugh. Amy giggled nervously as Vincent stared after them, but when he looked at her, she lost the smile and quickly hurried after the Time Lords. Vincent blinked, slightly bemused by the three strangers as he put his large, straw hat on and followed after them.

….

Vincent led the Time Lords and Amy through the streets, until they came to small cottage with a couple of shed-like buildings outside the back of the property. It was just a shame that it was night time, preventing them from getting a proper look of the house and garden, which seemed to have a small vegetable patch with a scarecrow in one corner of the yard, while further towards the house's door was a wooden table and benches.

"Dark night," the Doctor remarked as they walked towards the cottage. He smiled, nudging the Hatter's side with a wink, "Very _starry_ ".

The Hatter laughed softly, "I think you'll find I bet you to that little remark earlier, sweetheart," she reminded him quietly, making his face fall. She reached up to pat his cheek lightly, "But nice try, I found it amusing. Plus, you get points for saying it in front of the man himself," she nodded discreetly at Vincent's back.

He grinned broadly, feeling quite pleased with himself once more at hearing that he had amused her, "And that's all that counts, dear," he replied happily, quickly planting a kiss of her cheek.

"It's not much," Vincent told them from just ahead of them, almost as if he was trying to warn them off staying with him, "I live on my own. But you should be okay for one night," he reached inside his coat for a box of matches as he came to a stop before the front door, sending them a quick look over his shoulder to them, " _One_ night".

Amy moved closer to the Time Lords as Vincent busied himself with lighting a match, stepping over to a lamp and lighting it, "We're going to stay with him?" she asked quietly, grabbing the Doctor's arm in her excitement.

"Until he paints that church," the Doctor confirmed softly, walking closer to Vincent.

Vincent finished lighting the lamp, causing a golden light to light up his face as he removed his hat, hanging it up on a hook by the door, "Watch out," he warned them as they neared him and pointed over to something over his shoulder, "That one's wet".

"What?" Amy blinked at him as he moved inside the house.

The Time Lords looked to where he had pointed, their eyes widening slightly as they spotted the 'Bedroom in Aries' painting hanging from a clothesline by the door, before following after the man, exchanging looks. Amy came to a stop as she caught sight of the paint, staring at it for a moment, amazed before she quickly hurried inside the cottage.

Vincent lit another match and used it to light a small lamp, illuminating the small space within the cottage as the Time Lords walked inside, stopping short and staring around as several paintings, each in different stages of being completed, came into view around them. The entire room was lined by paintings, most having been pushed against the walls or on top of furniture, but everywhere they looked they spotted another masterpiece.

"Sorry about all the clutter," Vincent said to them, shaking the match's flame out as he walked further into the cottage where a small kitchen area seemed to be located, disappearing from sight.

"This is clutter?" the Hatter breathed, moving closer to where the painting 'Portrait of Dr Gachet' was sitting beside the main doorway, leaning against the wall on a table, "Blimey…" she shook her head, laughing softly as she looked back to the Doctor and Amy, "Our definitions of clutter are quite different, I think".

"I've come to accept the only person who's going to love my paintings is me," Vincent sighed slightly from the next room, completely oblivious by just how astonished they were to be surrounded by so many of his works, most freshly painted or only half finished.

"Wow," Amy gasped, her eyes wide as she slowly moved further into the room, seeming unsure of just where to look first. The Doctor laughed slightly at her reaction, "I mean, really…wow," she nodded to herself.

The Doctor and the Hatter moved around the room, admiring the painting as they passed, pausing to take a closer look at the 'Prisoners Exercising (after Dore)' painting, while beside it the 'Blossoming Almond Tree' painting was sitting.

"Yeah, I know it's a mess," Vincent said, taking Amy's amazement completely the wrong way, "I'll have a proper clear-out. I must, I really must," the Hatter walked across to the room, catching sight of 'La Berceuse' leaning against a wall, while, much to her delight, she also spotted, 'Still Life: Vase with Irises Against a Yellow Background' sitting in a corner of the room. Vincent lit another lamp in the next room, glancing back through the doorway, "Coffee, anyone?" he asked.

"Not for me, actually," the Doctor called to him.

"Nor me," the Hatter added quickly. She was bad enough as it was without adding coffee to the mix and besides, she preferred tea in this regeneration.

They moved to the doorway and poked their heads around into the next room to see Vincent place a coffee pot down on 'Still Life: Basket with Six Oranges,' making them both cringe.

"You know, you should be careful with these," the Doctor tried to tell him, the Hatter winced as Vincent picked up the pot and moved it off the painting, leaving a coffee ring on the canvas, "They're…" Vincent wiped the mark off carelessly with the back of his hand as the Doctor sighed slightly, "…precious".

"Precious to me," Vincent replied, shrugging, "Not precious to anyone else".

"They're precious to me!" Amy said loudly from the next room before poking her head around the doorframe as the Time Lords moved further into the smaller room. She gave Vincent a small smile.

"Well, you're very kind," he nodded to her, returning her smile warmly, "And kindness is most welcome".

The Doctor looked between them for a moment and shook his head, "Right, so, this church, then," he began, focusing on Vincent, eager to move on to the main reason for their visit, "Near here, is it?"

Vincent frowned at him as he started collecting wood that was stacked up in an alcove for the fire, "What is it with you and the church?" he questioned.

"Oh, just…curious," the Hatter tried to shrug the question off, shooting the Doctor a look. At this rate, Vincent probably thought they had some strange obsession with churches, "It's just a casual hobby of ours," she gave Vincent a smile.

"Far from casual," he shook his head, eyeing them strangely as he stepped over to the fireplace and sat the wood down in front of it, "It seems to me you never talk about anything else," he straightened and moved to gather more wood, glancing over to Amy, "They're strange ones".

The Time Lady laughed slightly, "Well, we have been called worse," she commented, finding the idea of Vincent Van Gogh calling them strange far more amusing then it probably was. After all, this was a man who liked to paint old boots and a skeleton smoking a cigarette.

The Doctor laughed along with her, "Okay, so let's talk about you, then," he gestured to Vincent, watching as he set to work building a fire, "What are you interested in?"

"Well, look around you," Vincent turned back to face them, smiling softly as he waved a hand around the room, "Art," he looked back to them, holding a hand up to his mouth, "It seems to me there's so much more to the world than the average eye is allowed to see," Amy moved closer to listen, having been admiring 'Starry Night' hanging on the wall, "I believe, if you look hard, there are more wounders in this Universe than you could ever have dreamed of".

The Time Lords looked at each other, smiling broadly at each other for a moment, "You don't have to tell us," the Doctor said to Vincent, turning back to him.

"Trust us, we know exactly what you mean," the Hatter agreed, taking the Doctor's hand.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter where sitting in chairs by the fire, listening to Vincent talk about art and his passion for it, rambling away and gesturing widely as he moved erratically around the room. The Time Lady struggled not to laugh as Vincent strongly reminded her of the Doctor when he got excited about something, he even had the same, slightly manic glint in his eyes that the Doctor tended to get.

"It's colour," Vincent explained to them, still waving his hands around, his eyes very bright, "Colour that holds the key," he moved closer to them, cupping his palm around his ear, "I can hear the colours," he held a finger up to his mouth to silence them, looking around, "Listen to them," he paused briefly, giving them a chance to listen as the Time Lords discreetly exchanged looks, both caught between amusement and bewilderment by the entire conversation, "Every time I step outside, I feel nature is shouting at me," he continued, growing even more erratic, "'Come on. Come and get me. Come on. Come on!'" he whirled around and grabbed the Doctor's lapels, shaking him slightly, moving right into his face, "'Capture my mystery!'"

The Doctor stared up at him for a moment, looking slightly concerned, "Maybe you've had enough coffee now," he remarked as Vincent slowly released his lapels, looking slightly surprised to find him grasping them, "How about some nice calming tea?" he suggested, glancing at the Hatter, "What do you think, dear?"

"Yes, I think that's a very good idea, sweetheart," the Hatter nodded, eyeing Vincent with a mildly worried expression, standing from her chair, "Tea, nice tea is what you need, Vincent, perhaps some chamomile? That's supposed to be relaxing, yes?" she nodded to herself again, glancing at Vincent, "Yes, that's what you need, a cup of chamomile".

"What do you think, Amy?" the Doctor asked, frowning slightly when he realised that Amy wasn't in the room, "Where's Amy?"

The Time Lady glanced over towards the doorway, "I think she went outside…" Suddenly, Amy screamed from somewhere outside, sounding terrified, "Amy!" she shouted, running for the door.

"No, no, no!" the Doctor leaped onto his feet, running after the brunet, Vincent following closely behind them as they made their way outside into the yard, "Amy!" he called urgently, catching sight of Amy on her knees, panting in the middle of the yard, "Amy?" they hurried over to her, the Hatter kneeling beside her, wrapping an arm around her, "What happened?" he started look around, trying to see through the dark.

"Are you okay?" the Hatter asked worriedly, running her eyes over the girl, checking for any obvious signs of injuries.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm okay," Amy gasped, her eyes wide with fear as she grabbed on to the Time Lady's arm, "I don't know what happened, I didn't see it," she looked up at the Doctor, talking quickly, "I was having a look at the paintings out here when something hit me from behind".

"Hey, it's alright," the Time Lady tried soothing her, pulling Amy closer to her side, trying to comfort her, "Whatever it was its gone now. You're safe, I promise, we're here".

"No!" Vincent suddenly cried, making them jump as he raised his hands up to his face, backing away fearfully, "No!"

The Doctor held out his hands towards him in a calming gesture, "Take it easy," he moved closer to him, but it didn't seem to help as Vincent continued backing away, "Take it easy!" he said louder.

"What's happening?" Amy questioned, very confused as the Hatter let her go, standing as she frowned at Vincent. It was almost as if he was backing away from something only he could see and whatever it was, it terrified him, "What's he doing?" she looked to the Time Lords as they stood in front of her.

"I don't know," the Doctor shook his head, just as confused as her as to what was going on, while Amy climbed back onto her feet. Vincent backed closer to the cottage, looking around widely, when he notice a pitchfork and grabbed it, holding it out in front of him, like a weapon, "Oh, dear," he breathed, alarmed, and grabbed the Hatter's hand.

"This really isn't good," the Hatter muttered, grasping his hand tighter, swallowing as she eyed Vincent holding the pitchfork warily.

Vincent gave a loud cry and ran towards them. Amy screamed as she and the Time Lords threw themselves out of the way, just as Vincent ran past them, "Run!" he ordered them frantically, waving a hand at them, "Run!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" the Doctor quickly held up his free hand, his eyes wide, "That's not a bad idea," he nodded, and started to usher the Hatter over towards the cottage, "Amy, Hatter, get back. He's having some sort of fit!"

Amy hurried back over to the cottage, peeking around the edge of the wall, but the Hatter shook her head and refused to move, "Not a chance, Doctor," she said sharply, giving him a stubborn look, "You and I both know that we need to calm him down and who better to do that then me?" she raised an eyebrow at him, almost smugly, "Besides, I don't think it's a fit," she frowned thoughtfully, shaking her head as she glanced over to Vincent, "I think there's more going on than we realise, I just can't work out what".

"But…but…" he tried to argue before sighing, realising that trying to do so would only waste more time, "Oh, _fine_!" he pointed at her firmly, "But be careful!"

She flashed him a cheeky grin, "Spoil sport".

The Time Lords edged closer to Vincent, who was moving around the yard erratically, shouting and grunting, still holding the pitchfork out in front of him.

"Easy, Vincent, easy," the Doctor held his hands up, moving closer to the man with a calming look, "Look, look, look, look. It's me, it's me, it's me…" he waved his hands around at him, "It's the Doctor and the Hatter, look".

"It's alright, Vincent," the Hatter told him soothingly, holding her hands up, too, "It's just us here, everything is alright. Just take a few deep breaths…" she stopped suddenly and spun around, her eyes searching the darkness in front of her.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked, concerned as he grabbing her arm.

She narrowed her eyes, still searching in front of her, "I don't…I thought I saw a shadow," she shook her head, looking slightly confused, "It's hard to describe. It was big, I think, but I was wrong. There's definitely something here".

A barrel fell behind them, just before Vincent shouted, "Look out!" and suddenly, the Doctor and the Hatter where both hit by something in their backs and sent flying in the air, landing hard on the ground, sprawled on their backs painfully, the breath knocked out of them.

Amy squealed as there was a loud, animalistic-like roar and a painting that had been hanging in front of Amy's hiding place was shredded, leaving a claw mark right down the middle. The Time Lords looked over to her, their eyes wide as they slowly helped each sit up, their backs aching.

"I can't see anything!" Amy practically shrieked, "What is it?"

Vincent ignored them, still striking furiously at the air around him, stabbing at it, trying to fight off whatever it was.

"That's a good question," the Doctor said more to himself then to anyone else, climbing onto his feet. He looked worriedly down at the Hatter, who was rubbing her back painfully, "Are you okay?" he asked her, holding out a hand to help her up.

The Hatter took his hand, letting him help her up, "Fine, fine," she waved him off, giving her a smile.

"Are you sure?" he eyed her.

"Don't you trust me?" she gave him a mock hurt look.

"When it comes to you pretending that you're not hurt, yes".

"Ah…that's probably wise, but just this one I'm telling the truth, sweetheart".

He continued to eye her for a moment before deciding that she was telling the truth, flashing her a bright smile. He whirled around and grabbed a long pole, running over to join Vincent, "Let me help you," he told him as the Hatter moved to Amy's side, putting herself in front of the girl, watching the scene before her intently for any more signs of the strange shadow.

"You can see him, too?" Vincent blinked at him, looking around at him in surprise as a smile crossed his face, still using the pitchfork to stab at the air.

The Doctor run off in a completely different direction of the yard, waving the pole around widely, "Yes…ish!" he called back to him, pausing, "Well, no. Not really…" he admitted, looking back over his shoulder to Vincent.

"Doctor, look out!" the Hatter shouted urgently, catching sight of the shadow out of the corner of eye, heading towards the Doctor.

There was a loud roar again and the Doctor was thrown backwards, flying over a table, and landing on his back at Vincent's feet, still managing to keep a hold of the pole.

"You couldn't see him?" Vincent frowned down at him, disappointed.

"No," the Doctor panted slightly, still lying on the ground, "No," there was another roar, coming from the other end of the yard, towards the vegetable garden, "Oi!" he called and jumped onto his feet, running around the table with a cry, swinging the pole around even more widely again.

The Hatter sighed tiredly, shaking her head, "Oh, I really did marry an idiot," she muttered, knowing perfectly well that the Doctor had no idea what he was doing.

Vincent seemed to realise the same thing and shook his head at him before lunging forward, pushing the pitchfork up into the air. A loud, pained growl sounded as he seemed to struggle with the creature, seeming to be pushing it backwards as the scarecrow fell sideways, while Amy and the Hatter could only watch on blindly.

The sound of something galloping against the ground sounded, followed by another roar, and Vincent took a swing, running over to the fence around his garden, apparently having managed to chase whatever it was off as the galloping sound faded.

"Is it…gone?" Amy whispered to the Hatter, her eyes wide.

The Hatter paused, listening closely, "I think so," she replied softly after a moment. She squinted her eyes, scanning the yard intently as she and Amy moved further into the middle of it, but she couldn't make out anymore strange shadows.

The Doctor continued to fight the thin air, waving and stabbing his pole around widely as he jumped and lunged around the spot, seeming to be completely unaware of the creature having been chased off.

"He's gone," Vincent informed him as Amy and the Hatter watched him, amused.

He swung around and let the end of the pole fall onto the ground, half leaning against it as he looked at them, "Oh, right," he said, slightly embarrassed, "Yes, of course," he chucked the pole onto the ground.

"Nice try, sweetheart," the Hatter laughed, shaking her head fondly as she walked over to him, linking her arm with his, planting a kiss on his cheek, "Someone doesn't like to be outdone, does he?" she murmured in his ear.

A blush spread across the Doctor's cheeks, luckily it was partly hidden by the lack of lighting as he shifted slightly beside her, "I was just…trying to make sure it was really gone," he coughed, clearing his throat as she laughed again, "Come on," and with that, he strolled off towards the cottage with the Hatter at his side, Vincent and Amy followed after them as they entered the cottage, "Right…" he said, smoothing his messy hair back as he spoke, "So he's invisible," he and the Time Lady sat by the fireplace, "What did he look like?" he asked aloud.

"I'll show you," Vincent announced, grabbing a painting with a bunch of irises in a vase, along with a paintbrush. He dipped the brush in some white paint and quickly started painting over the original painting.

The Hatter's eyes widened and she jumped up from her chair, seeing what he was doing, "No, no, don't!" she cried out.

"Oh, no, no, no!" the Doctor exclaimed in unison, also leaping out of his chair, but it was too late. The painting had already been partly covered over by a layer of white paint. Amy looked up, frowning and gasped, covering her mouth as she realised what had happened.

Vincent paused mid-brush stroke, looking at their horrified expressions in confusion, "What?" he questioned.

"It's just…" the Hatter shook her head heavily, her shoulder's slumping sadly, "It's just that it was a lovely painting," she pattered Vincent's shoulder, moving to sit back in the chair by the fire, "I've always been rather fond of irises, even as a child".

The Doctor sighed as Vincent started painting over the original image once more, "On you go," he mumbled, moving to sit back down by the fire.

While Vincent waited for the white paint to finish drying, he moved around his home and gathered a charcoal stick, setting to work sketching the creature on the canvas as Amy and the Time Lords watched him draw in the glow of the fire. Finally, Vincent paused in his work with a flourish of his hand, looking over what he had done for a moment before turning it around for the Time Lords to see a rough sketch of a large, bird-like creature with a large beak and talons, spikes running along its neck and the back of its head.

"Okay," the Doctor nodded, looking over the sketch, not recognising the creature, "Okay," he glanced at the Hatter, who was eyeing the picture thoughtfully, "Any ideas?" he asked her.

The Time Lady took a moment to look it over before sighing, shaking her head, "I'm afraid not," she replied warily, "I have no idea what species it is".

He laughed slightly, quickly planting a kiss on the top of her head, almost causing her hat to topple off, "Oh, I love it when that happens," he grinned at her as she gave him an annoyed look, fixing her hat.

"I don't know _everything_ , Doctor, I just act like I do".

"And you do it very well, dear," he told her before turning back to Vincent, grabbing the painting, "Right," he said, getting back to work, glancing over to Amy, "Amy, make Mr Van Gogh comfortable. Don't let any invisible monsters in through the front door".

"Or really though any other space," the Hatter added, looking slightly amused as she stood, "Also, probably best to avoid going outside again," she paused, seeming to considered what she had just said, "Unless there's a fire, then of course you should go outside and grab as many painting's on your way out".

Amy frowned at them and stood, noticing that they were heading towards the door, "But it could be outside, _waiting_!" she argued, waving her hands around dramatically.

"Well, don't worry," the Doctor smiled slightly, shrugging, "We'll risk it. What's the worst that can happen?"

"You could get torn into pieces by a monster you can't see".

"Always doom and gloom with you, Amy," the Hatter shook her head, patting Amy's shoulder reassuringly, a hint of amusement in her tone, "Have a little bit of faith in us, please. This isn't our first time dealing with an invisible alien".

"Don't worry, we'll be back before you can say, 'Where have they got to now?'" the Doctor took the Hatter's hand as they headed over to the door, disappearing around the doorframe. Amy sighed and turned back around to Vincent…, "Not that fast!" he shouted, appearing in the doorway again, making Amy and Vincent jump with a shout and whirl around to look at him. He grinned at their reaction as the Hatter peeked around him, laughing as Amy glared at them both, "But pretty fast," he finished.

"You two behaviour yourselves," the Time Lady told them in a motherly tone, pointing a finger at them both, "Don't throw any parties without us, and Amy, do try to get some sleep tonight. We all know how grumpy you get when you haven't slept," she said sternly as Amy blinked at her, trying to work out if she was being serious, "Right, then," she broke in a bright smile, tapping the brim her hat at them, "We'll be back soon, hopefully".

With one final nod, the Doctor and the Hatter walked through the slightly larger first room and over to the front door. They carefully crept out of the cottage, looking around cautiously, when the Time Lady grabbed the Doctor's arm, forcing him to stop, both listening intently as growingly reached them from an narrow alleyway between the two sheds towards the back of the yard.

They crept towards the sound, trying to narrow their eyes through the darkness, keeping their footsteps light as they paused in the entrance of the alley, hearing the growling again. Slowly, they walked through the alleyway, trying to look around for any sign of the creature, but not even the Hatter couldn't see the shadow of the creature through the dense darkness around them.

Eventually, the growling stopped and they decided it was best to be on their way back to the TARDIS, so they set off back through the streets of the town, looking around warily as they went, when the Hatter paused again, making the Doctor come to a stop, too, and cast her eyes back down the street they had come.

"I think it's following us," she whispered to him, uneasy by some unknown alien following them when they couldn't see it.

"Why hasn't it tried attacking us again?" he wondered curiously, keeping his voice low.

"I think…" she thought if over for a moment, frowning, "I think it's trying to work out what we are. It probably has a good sense of smell, no doubt it can smell that we're different from humans".

The Doctor tightened his grip on her hand, really not liking the fact that they were standing out in the open with a creature that might attack them at any given moment behind them, "Let's get the TARDIS," he muttered quickly.

The Hatter nodded at once, "Good idea".

They hurried off down the street again, sensing the creature following closely behind them as the Doctor reached inside his pocket for his TARDIS key, almost jogging up the street to reach the TARDIS, inserting the key into the lock, and unlocking it. He let the Hatter in first before following close behind her, slamming the door shut. They took a moment to lean against the door, listening until they heard a soft growl from the other side and the sound of large feet passing by. They both looked at each other, sighing in relief.

The Doctor headed up the steps on the console, moving around the controls, and down another set of stairs to a lower level across the room, "Are you sure you still have it?" the Time Lady asked, following him as he pulled a large, old chest from an alcove. She paused to lean on the wall, "It was…what? Almost seven centuries ago that you got it, yes?"

"Of course I still have it," the Doctor flashed her a grin, "I never throw things away, you never know when they might be useful," he turned his attention back to the chest, throwing the lid open to reveal an assortment of old objects, even a few blankets, "Right, you're in here somewhere…" he said to himself.

"Believe me, I'm well aware of your hoarder habits," she replied, shaking her head at him fondly. Not that she was any better, but at least she had tried to keep hers organised, he just flung his into rooms and forgot about them for centuries. She shook her head and watched as he flung an old jumper over his shoulder, narrowly avoiding hitting her as she automatically ducked it.

"I can't apologise enough," he muttered aloud, rummaging through the chest, "I thought you were just a useless gadget," he threw a book and an old shirt over his shoulder, along with a tie, "I thought you were just an embarrassing present from a dull godmother with two heads and bad breath," he and the Time Lady exchanged a look, both vividly remembering the woman in question. After all, she had been the Hatter's Aunt, along with her being his godmother, "Twice," he shook his head, breaking into a broad smile as he pulled a large harnessed device with a mirror attached to it from out of the chest, slipping his arms through the harness, "How wrong can a man be?" he laughed.

"In your defence, at the time it did seem like a pretty rubbish graduation gift," the Hatter commented, recalling the look on his face when he had first received the present. He had done quite a good job pretending he liked it, too bad his voice was a just a little too happy sounding for it to be believable, at least to her. She shrugged, moving back up to the console with him, "Still, I personally think it was better then what she gave me for my graduation".

He paused in pulling his arms out of the harness, sitting the device on the console, "She gave you a necklace," he vaguely recalled, giving her a confused look, "What's wrong with that?"

"Everyone gave me jewellery, though. The only person who actually got me something I wanted and would be useful was you…well, you and my Uncle, who gave me my first hat that I wasn't allowed to wear".

He smiled widely at her, feeling quite pleased with himself to hear that she had liked his gift, "Well, you couldn't possibly be an engineer without your own toolkit".

The Hatter returned the smile, quickly kissing his cheek, "Indeed, sweetheart".

He continued smiling and clapped his hands, "Right," he turned back to the device and began hooking it up to the console, plugging it in. Gallifreyan characters began flashing across the corner of the mirror as the device was activated and he looked at it, poking his tongue out at his reflection as the Hatter crossed her eyes at her own reflection before bursting out laughing at her own silliness, high fiving with the Doctor.

The device dinged and the words, '…match's found, print ready,' flashed across the bottom of the mirror. The Hatter moved around to the typewriter and clicked the spacebar, watching in amusement as an image of her First regeneration and the First Doctor began printing, the two of them standing together in their older years, while above the image was a section naming their species and planet of origin. A second printout started, this time with an image of the Second Doctor and Hatter, once again standing together with happy smiles.

"I'm glad to see its still working after all these years," the brunet remarked, grabbing the readout and carefully ripping the two pictures out of the printer, folding them up and tucking them inside her pocket of her jacket. She looked up and caught the Doctor watching her with a raised eyebrow, "What?" she asked, shrugging, "They're nice pictures".

"You know, this new regeneration is a bit sentimental," he said fondly. He quite liked seeing that softer side coming out in her.

"Yes, well, I might not have been able to play the role of sentimental Grandmother for very long before I left Gallifrey, but I certainly would have been excellent at it".

"Oh, I don't doubt it, dear," he agreed, knowing very well that she would have made a good Grandmother, he felt disappointed that he had missed the chance to see that side of her, having left Gallifrey years before she ever had Grandchildren. He cleared his throat and turned back to the device, "Okay, you're working," he nodded, bending down to pick up Vincent's drawing of the creature that they had leaned below the console, "Now…let's see what you make of this," he held the picture up for the mirror to scan and it dinged, "Who is that?"

The Hatter looked over to him as he put the canvas back down on the floor, checking the results on the mirror, "Well?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "What did it say?"

The Doctor sighed heavily, looking slightly frustrated, "A parrot," he told her as she moved to stand by his side. He shook his head at the mirror with an image of a brightly coloured parrot on it, "No, we know it's not that. There are thousands of them and you can see them plain as day," the device dinged again and the image was replaced by a polar bear, making the Time Lady laugh.

"Somehow I don't think that's quite right," the brunet smirked, shaking her head, highly amused. It really was typical.

"This is the problem with impressionists," he grumbled, mildly exasperated, "Not accurate enough. This would never happen with Gainsborough or one of those proper painters," he paused as the Hatter gave him a quick look, "Sorry, Vincent," he bent down and picked up the sketch, eyeing it for a moment, "You will just have to draw something better".

He tossed it over his shoulder and the Hatter made a noise of protest, throwing him a scandalised look, "You can't just throw Vincent Van Gogh's pictures around, Doctor!" she exclaimed.

He winced and scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Whoops".

…

The Doctor and the Hatter stepped outside the TARDIS, finding that dawn had broken while they had been working inside. They paused, glancing up and down the empty street for any sign of the creature before the Doctor looked down to the device he had strapped to his chest, fiddling with the controls, adjusting the mirror slightly so that it was pointed directly over his shoulder, just as it dinged.

"That's better, old girl," he grinned broadly, twisting a dial on the controls, not looking at the mirror, "Time delay, but you always get it right in the end," he grabbed the mirror and started adjusting it before nodding happily to himself as he finished positioning it, "Good. Let's find out who this is, then…" he checked the results on the mirror as the Hatter moved closer to see, too as an image of a large, creature crossed between a bird and a reptile flashed across the mirror with some information on the species, "Well, well, there you are," he muttered.

"Interesting, and sad," the Hatter remarked, looking over the results, "A Krafayis, a pack animal. The poor thing," she sighed sadly, feeling sorry for the creature, though she hadn't forgotten what it had done to its victims, "No wonder it's going around, hurting and killing people, he's missing his own kind".

The Doctor nodded in agreement, looking back to the controls, adjusting them, "I hope we meet again soon so we can take you home," he commented.

The Time Lady glanced up at the mirror and her eyes widened, catching sight of Krafayis's beak in the mirror as it roared behind them, "Ah, Doctor," she said urgently, grabbing his arm, a note of alarm in her voice.

He followed her gaze, "Maybe not _that_ soon," he breathed, startled to find the creature looking back at him.

"Never mind that," the Hatter shook her head, grabbing his hand, "Run!"

They set off down the narrow street, running as fast as they could while still trying to keep the creature in their line of sight in the mirror as it chased after them. They ducked around a corner and tried to lean back against the wall, hoping they might lose the creature, but as the Doctor positioned the mirror to look around the corner, they realised their plan hadn't worked as the creature galloped after them with a loud growl.

They took off down the street again, glancing over their shoulders every now and then as the creature roared again, knocking over a bike. The Time Lords paused briefly, but when it became apparent that the bike hadn't slowed the creature down, they started running again through the streets and around a corner. They noticed a table had been left out with baskets piled on top of it and the Doctor pulled the table into the path, scattering the baskets everywhere, hoping to slow the creature down while the Hatter pushed over a small pole with a flag attached it.

They went to run off again when stone in an archway behind them was knocked onto the ground, clearly from the creature forcing it's self through the low archway. They didn't wait to see if the things they had tossed onto the ground would discourage it as they ran off down the street, ducking around a corner, leaning heavily against the wall as they breathed deeply.

"It's it gone?" the Hatter whispered after a tense moment, listening closely to any sound of footsteps approaching.

Carefully, the Doctor moved the mirror around the edge of the corner, checking as the creature roared loudly from somewhere, sounding distance. He watched as some of the objects that they had tossed onto the ground moved and sighed in relief, realising that the creature had retreated back down the way they had come.

"It's gone," he told her quietly, wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her closer and kissing her forehead quickly.

They turned, moving to head down the next street, only to almost be scared to death as they almost ran straight into Amy, who screamed loudly in surprise, having been about to step around the same corner.

"Amy!" the Hatter yelped, her voice sounding far higher then she would have liked, practically jumping into the Doctor's arms, causing him to stumble back slightly.

"Never do that!" he exclaimed at Amy, waving his hands around, trying to calm his racing hearts, not that it really helped with the Hatter pressed against his chest, slightly awkwardly due to the device he still had strapped to him. He took a deep breath, trying to compose himself, "You scared the living daylights out of us," he complained.

The Time Lady pried herself off the Doctor, brushing a hand down the front of her skirt, "You can't just sneak up on people when they're being chased by an invisible creature, Amy!" she scolded, pointing a finger at her, "Why can't you keep change in your pocket like most people?" she shook her head, glancing at the Doctor, "This would never have happened with Peri or Tegan".

He blinked at her, "Why them?"

"They wore high heels, how they managed to run I have no idea, but at least you could hear them coming".

"Sorry," Amy said, wincing slightly, "I got bored. As much as you admire his command of colour and shape, it is hard to get fond of Vincent Van Gogh's snoring".

"Sounds like fun," the Hatter remarked, amused.

….

The sun was shining brightly as Amy and the Hatter waited in Vincent's garden, surrounded with sunflowers that they had picked and gathered into bunches, sticking them into anything they could find, even putting a few in a vase on the table, along with a tray with breakfast for Vincent while the Doctor went to wake the man himself, having agreed with the Hatter that it was probably best if she and Amy stayed in the garden. Who know just how the man might have slept? Things could have been very embarrassing.

The window in Vincent's room flew open and the Doctor appeared, grinning broadly as the sun's glare hit him, "Whoa!" he called happily, giving the Hatter a little wave below the window, "What a morning!" he disappeared from the window for a moment, reappearing in the doorway, walking outside the door and out onto the balcony, "And Amy's got a little surprise for you," he added over his shoulder, heading down the stairs.

Vincent moved into view in the window, still looking half asleep as he looked out over his yard, a flicker of surprise crossing his face as he caught sight of all the flowers the girls had scattered around.

"I thought I'd brighten things up to thank you for saving me last night," Amy called up to him, smiling.

"Ah!" he nodded, taking all the flowers in, returning the smile.

"I thought you might like, you know, possibly to perhaps paint them or something?" she suggested, trying to sound causal as the Doctor joined them at the table, exchanging an amused look with the Hatter, "Might be a thought," she shrugged.

Vincent glanced at a sunflower growing up by the window, "Yes, well, they're not my favourite flower," he admitted.

" _You_ don't like sunflowers?" she questioned, trying hard not to laugh as she glanced at the Time Lords.

"Typical," the Hatter muttered, laughing softly as the Doctor poured her a glass of orange juice, passing it over to her, pouring another glass for himself.

"No, it's not that I don't like them. I find them complex. Always somewhere between living and dying," he reached through the window and lightly touched the sunflower, eyeing it as he spoke, "Half-human as they turn to the sun. A little disgusting. But, you know, they are a challenge".

"Well, that sounds like an excellent reason for why you should paint them," the Time Lady told him brightly, taking a quick sip of her juice, "One should always look for ways to challenge themselves, otherwise life will be terribly dull".

"Quite right, dear," the Doctor agreed, slightly amused as he looked up to the man, "But, moving on, there's something we need to show you".

They moved inside the main cottage, where Vincent joined them a moment later, and the Time Lords showed him a small printout of the creature.

Vincent took the piece of paper, his eyes widening slightly as he looked down at the image, sitting down, while Amy stood beside the empty fireplace, looking over his shoulder, "That's him," he confirmed at once, his voice growing slightly grim, "And the eyes, without mercy".

"That creatures called a Krafayis," the Hatter informed him, nodding to the picture in his hands, taking a seat on a wooden bench in front of Vincent's chair, "And it's an alien. The species travels through space in large packs, hunting throughout the Universe, leaving destruction in their wake," she sighed slightly, grimacing, "They're not the most pleasant of species, I'm afraid, in fact they're known for being quite brutal and harsh, even to their own kind".

"And sometimes one of them gets left behind," the Doctor continued the explanation as Vincent listened intently, "And because of their brutality and harshness, the others never come back. So, dotted all around the Universe are individual, utterly merciless, utterly abandoned Krafayis. And what they do is…" he walked over to the Hatter and sat beside her, taking her hand as he went on, "Well, kill, until they're killed".

"But because they're invisible to most people, they aren't usually killed," the Time Lady added sadly, imagining that it must be such a lonely life for those who were left behind, not even having the company of those around them because they couldn't be seen. It made her all the more grateful that she and the Doctor had each other.

Vincent glanced over to the Time Lords, "But I can," he said slowly, pausing as he focused on the Hatter, frowning, "You said that you could see…a shadow?" he asked.

"Only briefly," she replied, nodding thoughtfully, "But, yes, I can see a shadowy shape if I look hard enough. I believe it is due to the fact that you and I both see the world slightly differently from everyone else, it's just come out in different ways. For you, its colours and art, while for me it's being able to look at a piece of machinery and piece it together, figuring out how it works and how to make it better, though, it would seem that you are a bit more in tuned with that part of yourself then I am," she smiled at him.

"That, and you were one of the inspired," the Doctor commented, playfully nudging the brunet's side. That's why he couldn't see the creature, not even a shadow of it because the inspired saw the Universe slightly differently to how those who weren't inspired did.

She inclined her head towards him, turning her smile on him, "Yes, well, I would say that does play a rather big role in my faint ability to detect the creature".

He grinned at her before turning to Vincent as Amy moved to sit on the other side of the Time Lady, "And your ability to see it is why we are in a unique position today, my friend, to end this reign of terror," he said brightly to Vincent, "So, feeling like painting the church today?"

Vincent frowned at him, slightly alarmed, "What about the monster?"

"Take my word for it. If you paint it, he will come".

"Okay," he nodded, glancing over to Amy, and stood, suddenly seeming almost eager, "I'll get my things," he headed for the door.

"There's no need to rush," the Hatter called to him, making him pause in the doorway, not wishing to make him feel as if they were forcing him into painting the church, "There's still plenty of daylight hours left".

"And we promise you, we'll be out of your hair by this time tomorrow," the Doctor told him, giving him a nod.

Vincent hesitated, an odd look crossing his face, almost as if he was worried as he glanced at Amy before continuing on his way out the door. The Hatter frowned slightly, feeling a spark of concern, having been watching Vincent's reaction. Something about it didn't quite sit right with her.

The Doctor waited for a moment, sighing warily as he shook his head, "This is risky," he eventually said, his voice soft.

"Riskier than normal?" Amy questioned, frowning slightly at him.

He stood and moved over to the door, checking to make sure that Vincent couldn't hear before looking back to the red head, "Well, think about it," he said to her, "This is the middle of Vincent Van Gogh's greatest year of painting. If we're not careful, the next result of our pleasant little trip will be the brutal murder of the _greatest_ artist who ever lived. Half the pictures on the wall of the Musee D'Osay will _disappear_ ," he snapped his fingers, sitting heavily back down beside the Hatter, shaking his head, "And it will be our fault".

The Hatter swallowed slightly, taking his hand, grasping it tightly as he looked at her, "We won't let that happen," she said firmly, trying to sound more confidant then she truly was. Anything could happen just from the smallest mistake, "We will do everything that we possibly can to prevent that from happening, just as we always do, sweetheart," she gave him a small smile, "Have faith in yourself, Doctor".

He smiled softly at her, lifting up her hand and tenderly kissing the palm of it, "You always know just what to say to make everything seem better".

"Well, I have had centuries of practise, that does help matters".

"No," he shook his head, tucking a strand of dark wavy hair behind her ear, careful not to nudge her hat, otherwise there would be hell to pay, "It's you, it's always you".

She laughed, rolling her eyes fondly as she kissed his cheek, "And I do believe you might be just a little bias when it comes to me".

"Well…" he paused, grinning, "That could be very true".

Amy cleared her throat loudly from the other side of the Hatter, "Shouldn't Vincent be back yet?" she asked, raising her voice slightly, wishing she was anywhere but sitting beside those two when they started getting all flirty and mushy with each other. Thank goodness they hadn't started kissing, she didn't think she could handle witnessing that display…again.

Both Time Lords blushed and jumped apart slightly, having forgotten that Amy was there, "Ah, yes," the Doctor cleared his throat, standing, "Right, I'll just go and…" he started moving towards the door.

"I'll come with you," the Hatter climbed onto her feet, giving Amy an apologetic look as she passed. They really needed to work on not getting quite as carried away with each other while on an adventurer, anyone would think they had only just got married. Well, she supposed that almost three years of marriage to a Time Lord was like still being a newlywed, still, that was no excuse.

She and the Doctor made their way into the next room, only to find that Vincent was nowhere to be found. They checked the yard, once again finding it empty save for a few chickens that where roaming around the baskets of sunflowers they had left lying around. They decided to check Vincent's room and they walked up the stairs, onto the small balcony.

"Vincent!" the Doctor called, knocking on the wooden door, waiting for a moment for a response, but when none came, he knocked again, "Vincent?"

The Hatter frowned, concerned as she pressed her ear against the door, growing even more worried as she heard the faint sounds of…sobbing, "Vincent, we're coming in now," she said through the door, keeping her tone gentle, giving him enough warning to stop them as she turned the doorhandle and opened the door.

The room was just like one of Vincent's paintings, exactly like it, save for Vincent, who was lying face down on his bed, turned away from them, crying quietly.

The Time Lady felt her hearts break out the sight, "Oh, Vincent," she breathed sadly, walking across to the bed and kneeling beside it, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Shh, it's okay," she tried to comfort him, glancing back to the Doctor, who looked slightly unsure of just what to do.

The Doctor moved to stand beside her, putting his hands behind his back, "Vincent, can we help?" he questioned.

"It's so clear you cannot help," Vincent replied, his voice muffled by his pillow and tears, "And when you leave, and everyone always leaves, I will be left once more with an empty heart and no hope," he rolled over to face them, tears filling his eyes.

"There's always hope," the Hatter told him softly, trying to give him a smile, "Even in the darkest of times, hope can still be found, whether that be through a passion, such as yours for art or from something else entirely, hope is always there, that is what I have learnt from many years of experience".

"Then your experience is incomplete," he suddenly snapped, sniffing as he looked away from her. The Doctor put his hand on the Time Lady's shoulder as she winced slightly, "I know how it will end, and it will not end well".

The Doctor sighed slightly, trying to make one last effort to get Vincent up, "Come on," he said cheerfully, lightly slapping Vincent's back as the Hatter stood, deciding that it was best to let him be until he had calmed down a bit, "Come on," he continued, "Come on, let's go outside…"

"Doctor…" the Hatter began, casting Vincent a wary look.

"Get out!" Vincent shouted, roughly shrugging the Doctor's hands off him, pointing at them both angrily. The Doctor quickly stood, backing away as he took the Hatter's hand, "You get out!" he demanded, tears running down his face again, "What are you doing here? What are you doing here?"

They backed towards the door, the Doctor holding up his hand, the other holding the Hatter's, "Very well," he said calmly, nodding, "We'll leave. We'll…leave you".

The Hatter swallowed as she watched Vincent curl into a ball, sobbing as he clutched at his head. She desperately wanted to try and console him, but there was nothing that either she or the Doctor could do, not this time. Reluctantly, the Time Lords stepped back outside onto the balcony, moving to lean against the railing, just as Amy jogged up the stairs to join them.

"What's happening?" Amy asked them, moving to lean on the railing, too.

"It's time to go," the Time Lady sighed heavily, sounding regretful, "If we stay any longer, we just might make things even worse for poor Vincent".

The Doctor nodded grimly, "Everyone knows he's a delicate man," he agreed sadly as Amy's face fell, "Just months from now he'll…" he heisted, glancing at Amy, "He'll take his own life," he and the Hatter pushed off the railing and headed down the stairs, hating that there was nothing that they could do to help Vincent and prevent that from happening.

Amy looked down the stairs after them, shaking her head, "Don't say that," she almost pleaded, looking very pale, "Please".

The Hatter paused on the bottom step, not looking back to her, hanging her head, "I'm sorry, truly".

With little else that they could do, the three of them spent a few minutes wondering around the cottage, taking one last look at the paintings, knowing that they wouldn't get the chance to ever see them like this again, reluctant to leave. It felt so wrong for them to leave when there was someone in need, but what could they do? Vincent's death couldn't be prevented, it was a fixed point and it was clear that no amount of talking to him would help, if anything it would probably only make the situation even worse by making him angry. The entire situation was unfair.

Amy stepped over to stand by the Time Lords side as they took one last look around, "Ah, come on," the Doctor eventually sighed, trying to make himself sound more cheerful then he actually felt, glancing back to Amy, "We have to do this on our own," he continued, moving to dig around in one of Vincent's painting kits, "Go to the church at the right time and hope the monster still turns up".

"I suppose," the Hatter agreed sadly, nodding slowly, "We don't have much of a choice, do we?"

A shadow fell over them and footsteps sounded, making them look up and over to the doorway as Vincent appeared in the frame, wearing his brown coat and hat, "I'm ready," he announced, moving further into the room, "Let's go," he picked up a paintbrush from a pot.

The Time Lords stared at him, breaking into broad smiles, delighted.

 _ **I am so sorry about the wait, I had no idea just how huge this chapter would turn out to be, but the good news is that I am halfway through writing the next chapter, so you hopefully you won't have to wait long for that. Also, in case you hadn't noticed, I've uploaded the 'Two Doctors and Hatters' story, and it's not necessary to have watched the Classic episode to read it, it might just be a little confusing in places if you haven't. And I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you after the glitch that happened that meant the reviews wouldn't show up.**_

 _ **What did you think of the new Hatter? I love writing her rambling, it's so much fun. Oh, and her clothing is on my profile and Tumblr, if you're interested. I kind of got inspired by the Ninth Doctor's line about humans being 'pink and yellow,' so I can just imagine the Doctor being quite surprised when he first saw what colour combination she had picked out, not to mention the leather jacket.**_

 _ **Next chapter, we learn about two things that the Hatter does that annoy the Doctor, star gazing, and bored Time Lords. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **I'm afraid that I haven't read any of those audio dramas or comics, so I'm afraid I won't be able to turn them into a story. Thank you for the suggestions and review :)**_

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	20. Chapter 20 Vincent and the Time Lords,p2

_**Vincent and the Time Lords, part 2**_

The Doctor and the Hatter strolled behind Vincent and Amy, who had a large blank canvas tucked under her free arm, while Vincent carried his easel and paint palette as they made their way down a gravelled road lined with stone fences, surrounded by large fields.

"I'm sorry you're so sad," Amy said quietly to Vincent as they walked.

"But I'm not," he told her, smiling happily, as if he hadn't been curled up in a ball on his bed, sobbing less than twenty minutes ago, "Sometimes these moods torture me for weeks, for months. But I'm good now," he took her hand and held it tightly, "If Amy Pond can solider on, then so can Vincent Van Gogh".

She laughed slightly, seeming almost confused as the Time Lords exchanged a quick look, "I'm not _soldiering on_ ," she shook her head, "I'm fine".

"Oh, Amy, I hear the song of your sadness," he glanced at her, a sad look crossing his face, "You've lost someone I think".

"I'm not sad".

"Then why are you crying?" he resorted lightly, and Amy's hand flew up to her cheek, staring down at her own hand as she whipped away a tear, shocked and even more confused to find that she _had_ been crying, not understanding why, "It's alright," he assured her as she looked back to him, alarmed, "I understand".

She stared at him for a long moment, "I'm not sure I do," she admitted.

The Time Lords exchanged a sad look, knowing perfectly well that those tears were for Rory. Even though he had been wiped from existence, there was still something in Amy that remembered him, who was still trying to hold onto his memory, even though she might not know it. The Hatter supposed that was the amazing thing about love, regardless of what might happen, love always seemed to stay with us, even if we don't realise it.

"Okay," the Doctor cut in, sighing slightly, deciding that it would probably be best to try to change the subject, "Okay!" he said a bit louder, pausing in the middle of the road, "So, now, we must have a plan…"

"For once," the Hatter remarked softly, shooting him a playful look.

The corner of his mouth twitched, nudging her side, "Yes, for once, dear," he agreed, giving her a wink before turning serious as he turned back to Vincent and Amy, "When the creature returns…" he began.

Vincent stopped and spun back around to face them, determined, "Then we shall fight him again".

"Well, yes," he nodded slowly, exchanging a slightly wary look with the brunet, "Tick," he mimed ticking something in mid-air, "But last night we were lucky. Amy could have been killed," Vincent blinked slightly, not seeming to have thought of that as the Time Lords stepped closer to him, "So this time, for a start, we have to make sure we can see him, too," he finished, gesturing between himself and the Time Lady.

"And not just a shadowy shape, either," the Time Lady added, nodding along with him, "I would rather not spend the day jumping at every large shadow that I see, just in case it might be the creature".

"And how are we meant to do that, suddenly?" Amy asked, frowning at them.

"The answers in this box," the Doctor replied, smiling slightly as he held up a case he was holding, tapping the side of it, starting down the road again, "I had an excellent, if smelly, Godmother".

"Who also happened to be my Aunt," the Hatter linked her arm with his, shaking her head, amused, "Our Father's and the Doctor's Mother went to school together," she laughed, "My Dad had a thing for the Doctor's Mum…which sounds weird when you think about it".

He stopped suddenly, a horrified expression crossing his face as he looked back to her, "We could have been siblings," he gasped, mortified by the very idea, seeming to have only just realised that.

The Time Lady grimaced, looking ill as she smacked the back of his head, "Never ever say that again, Doctor," she told him sharply, just as horrified by the idea as him, "It's bad enough knowing my Father was in love with your Mother, let's not go any further than that. _Ever_ again".

He nodded quickly, more than happy with that idea, "Never," he agreed at once, making a disgusted face. It was strange, though, even as children before he had developed feelings for her, even then he still hadn't felt comfortable thinking of her as being a sister. The Master, yes, he had been like a brother, even the Rani had felt like a cold, distant sister at one point or another, but never the Hatter. She had always just been his best friend and then later, his first crush and love.

Wanting to put those horrible thoughts from their minds, they set off again down the road, only pause again as they caught sight of a funeral procession walking towards them from up ahead. A group of men carried the pine coffin with a bunch of sunflowers resting on top of it, following after the minister as the mourners walked close behind, dressed all in black.

"Oh, no," Vincent breathed, catching sight of the procession, "It's that poor girl from the village".

The Hatter swallowed sadly, recognising the girl's Mother in the mourners with a black vail covering the back of her head. They moved to stand along the edge of the road as they passed them, Vincent and the Time Lady removing their hats respectfully. The Mother, holding a small bunch of flowers noticed them as she walked by them with a man beside her, clearly her husband, and opened her mouth to say something before shaking her head, turning away from them.

"That poor woman," the Time Lady murmured sadly, shaking her head as the Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist, "The pain she is going through, what she will _always_ go through, it's impossible for someone who hasn't felt it to understand".

Vincent looked over to her, grim realisation crossing his face, "You have lost a child?"

She gave him a small nod, not taking her eyes off the Mother's back as the procession moved further down the road, "Yes, five," she took a deep breath, feeling tears prickle the corner of her eyes at the horrified expression on Vincent's face, "My first four where from my first marriage, two boys and two girls, while my youngest daughter was…well, quite a surprise, to say the least," the Doctor squeeze her gently and gave him a weak smile, "She gave her life to protect us".

His eyes widened, "I am so sorry for you lose," he bowed his head to her.

"Thank you," she cleared her throat, desperately wanting to get off the subject. While she might have disliked remembering what had happened to her children, she forced herself to each and every day, no matter how painful it might have been. They deserved to be remembered and she would make sure that they always were, "Now, let's get back to tracking this creature down," she said a little forcefully, sticking her hat back on.

"You do have a plan, don't you?" Amy asked, glancing at the Time Lords.

"Oh, didn't I mention that I was joking before?" the Hatter raised an eyebrow at her, shaking her head as they started walking down the road again, "We never have a plan".

"Well, it's a thing," the Doctor said, shrugging, "It's like a plan, but with more greatness".

"Not to worry," the Time Lady continued brightly, linking her arm through the Doctor's once more, "We do some of our best thinking on our feet".

….

The Time Lords and Amy watched as Vincent set his easel up outside the large, stone Gothic style church, shoving the long, pointed ends of the easel into the soft Earth. He grabbed the blank canvas and put it into the easel before taking a seat on a small wooden stool before it, getting ready to start painting.

The Doctor bent over Vincent's shoulder, placing his hands on the man's shoulders, "And you'll be sure to tell us if you see any, you know, monsters," he said to him.

"Yes," Vincent nodded, slightly inpatient, glancing up at him, "While I may be mad, I'm not stupid".

"Of course you aren't," the Hatter nodded, throwing the Doctor a look as he looked slightly sheepish that Vincent had misunderstood what he meant, "That's not what he meant at all".

"Yes, exactly," the Doctor moved to crouch beside Vincent, "And, to be honest…I'm not sure about mad either," he glanced at the Time Lady, "It seems to me depression is a very complex…"

"Shh," Vincent hushed him, holding up a finger splattered with blue paint to silence him, "I'm working," he told him, nodding over to the blank canvas.

He blinked slightly, taken aback for a moment, "Well, yes," he said slowly, standing, wrapping an arm around the Time Lady's waist, "Paint. Do painting!" he encouraged brightly.

The Hatter laughed softly, kissing his cheek, "Oh, please," she whispered to him, "You used to whine about me talking when you sketched me".

"Only because you kept moving your lips and they were hard to draw," he defended himself quietly.

"Oh, yes, because I should have known better then to move my mouth while talking to you".

"Well…yes, exactly".

She laughed again, shaking her head, "Just so you know, I did it on purpose," she admitted, smiling widely, "It was amusing watching you get annoyed".

"I knew it!" he exclaimed loudly.

"Shh!" both Vincent and Amy hissed at him as the Hatter struggled to contain her giggles.

"Sorry," he muttered, embarrassed.

….

Vincent was busy painting layers of different shades of blue onto the sky above the outline he had already done for the church, while Amy and the Hatter watched him work.

"I remember when we watched Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel," the Doctor remarked after a while, flashing the Time Lady a grin, "Wow! What a whinger," he shook his head, "I said to him, 'if you're scared of heights, you shouldn't have taken the job'".

"Shh," Amy frowned around Vincent to him, while the Hatter simply laughed fondly, remembering the adventure.

….

The sky was finished and Vincent had just started working on the church, having added more detailing to the windows as the Doctor paced behind him. Amy was still watching him work, but the Hatter had since taken to watching the clouds move across the darkening sky, calling out interesting shapes and patterns every now and then to the Doctor

"And Picasso," the Doctor commented, grimacing slightly, "What a ghastly old goat. I kept telling him…" he moved close to Vincent, grabbing his shoulders, "'Concentrate, Pablo, its one eye, either side of the face'".

Amy glared at him, "Quiet!" she hissed.

"Come here, sweetheart," the Hatter held out a hand towards him, turning her head to look up at him, "The stars will be out soon, come and look at them with me".

Happily, the Doctor joined her and lied down on the ground beside her, taking her hand and holding it to his chest. Amy shook her head and returned her attention to watching Vincent paint, simply glad that the Doctor had finally stopped talking.

….

Night had fallen and the Doctor had long since placed his head in the Time Lady's lap as she sat upright, lightly toying with his hair, both of them very bored and growing frustrated with the lack of anything to do. The Hatter had fared better then the Doctor, but even she could only sit around with nothing to do for a limited time. Even making up a few new star constellations had grown boring after a while. Amy, on the other hand, was still watching Vincent paint intently, only shifting every now and then when her foot went to sleep. The Time Lords didn't know why she didn't just sit down and watch.

"Is this how time normally passes?" the Doctor asked after a moment, looking up at the Hatter, " _Really_ slowly," he frowned slightly, sitting upright, "And in the right order".

"No wonder humans are so moody, it's just so mind numbing," the Hatter sighed, shaking her head as she stood, brushing the back of her skirt and her tights down from grass, "Imagine if they could actually feel time tick by, second by second," she shivered at the thought, "They'd all go mad".

He climbed onto his feet, wrapping an arm around the Time Lady's waist with a dramatic flourish, "It's _so_ boring!" he complained loudly, closing his eyes tightly, "And you know what I can't stand?" he opened his eyes again, looking back to the brunet.

"Me wearing my hat in bed while reading?"

"Well…yes, that is a little annoying. Why you feel the need to wear it while you're reading in bed, I have no idea, but no. Something else".

"Ah…leaving the cap off the toothpaste?" she suggested with a teasing look, knowing perfectly well that he wasn't talking about that at all.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" he said after a moment of eyeing her.

She laughed, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek, "You just left yourself wide open for it, sweetheart, it wouldn't be me if I didn't take the chance to tease you," she grinned cheekily.

"Just my luck to end up falling madly in love with the biggest teaser in the Universe".

"Aww, you love that about me, really," she smirked, wrapping an arm around his neck.

He smiled widely at her, taking the chance to kiss her quickly, "Completely and utterly," he agreed at once, his eyes soft as he looked at her before he cleared his throat, "But that's not what I was talking about," he said, getting back on topic as the brunet let her arm slip from his neck and back down to her side, "What I was saying is that I can't stand an unpunctual alien attack," he huffed slightly as they walked past Vincent, stopping a short distance behind him, facing away from him.

Amy frowned, noticing that the Time Lords seemed to grow tense. She hurried over to them, "Are you two okay?" she questioned, looking between them. One moment they were flirting and the next they were back to being bored and tense, she really didn't know how to keep up with their mood swings, "You seem a bit…" she eyed them carefully, "If I didn't know better, I'd say nervous".

"There's something wrong about all of this and we can't figure out what," the Hatter remarked, sighing heavily, frustrated, "And it's _very_ annoying".

"There!" Vincent suddenly called, catching their attention, making them whirl around to see him pointing the end of his brush towards the church, "He's at the window!"

They tried to follow his gaze, but of course they couldn't see anything, not even the Hatter, who couldn't tell the difference from one shadow to the next, "Where?" the Doctor asked quickly.

"There, on the right!"

"As I thought," the Doctor nodded, grabbing the Hatter's hand, "Come on, we're going in," he and the Time Lady started for the door, pausing to grab the Doctor's case on the way.

"Well, I'm coming, too!" Vincent moved to step forward.

"No!" both Time Lords shouted, their eyes wide, and the Doctor held up a hand to stop him, "You're Vincent Van Gogh," he said slowly, shaking his head, " _No_ ".

Vincent frowned at them, "But you're not armed".

"Of course we are," the Hatter flashed him a bright, confident smile.

"What with?" he stared at them, confused.

"Overconfidence, this…" the Doctor replied, tapping the side of the case he was holding, "The Hatter's sense of humour and brains…"

The Time Lady cast him a sideways look, "I feel like a part of me should be offended by that first comment about my sense of humour," she remarked with an odd look before shrugging, giving him a small smile, "But I suppose the last part made up for it".

He laughed slightly at that, taking her hand, "Believe me, you shouldn't be, dear," he told her sincerely, turning back to Vincent, "And we also have a small screwdriver. We're absolutely sorted," he waved a dismissive hand at Vincent, who was still looking unconvinced, "Just have to find the right crosactic setting, and stun him with it. Sonic never fails…"

"Unless there's wood involved," the Hatter muttered to herself, amused, "Oh, and deadlock seals. Also, strangely, hairdryers".

"Okay, so _mostly_ is never fails," he corrected quickly, sending her a look as she held up her hands innocently. He shook his head, turning back to Amy and Vincent, "Anyway, Amy, only one thought, one simple instruction…" he gave her a stern look, "Don't follow us under any circumstances," he signalled to Vincent for him to keep an eye on Amy.

"I won't," Amy promised them, shaking her head, earning a thumbs up from the Doctor and a wink from the Hatter as they turned, heading for the church door.

As they approached the large wooden door into the church, the Hatter moved closer to the Doctor, "Why do we bother to tell them not to follow us?" she whispered to him.

"Because one day they might just listen".

She scoffed quietly, shaking her head, "Oh, please, that'll never happen".

They stopped before the church door and the Doctor placed the case down on the ground, popping the latches open, and pulling out the mirror device. The Hatter quickly helped him to strap the harness onto his chest and set the controls, and he positioned the mirror to look over his shoulder. Slowly, they approached the doors, glancing up to where a large stone engraving was above the doorway of an angle slaying a dragon. The Hatter couldn't help but worry it might be a bad omen…well, that was if she believed in bad omens, which she didn't, of course.

Slowly, the Time Lords opened the doors and crept inside the darkened entrance of the church. A loud growling sound reached them as they edged further into the building and the Doctor handed his sonic to the Hatter, busy checking the mirror to make sure that the creature wasn't about to sneak up on them. The growling came again as they moved into the main church area, the large stain glass windows casting an eerie light from the moon, making every shadow seem so much bigger and more frightening.

As they approached the alter and closer to the window Vincent had pointed out, they paused, the Hatter scanning the area with the sonic as the Doctor moved the mirror around to look over both his shoulders, slowly turning on the spot. The Hatter paused in her scanning, checking the results, shaking her head at the Doctor when they came back negative.

"We're going to have to move closer to the window," the Time Lady whispered to him, casting the large, arched window a wary look.

The Doctor sighed slightly and nodded in agreement, edging closer towards the window, walking backwards and turning the mirror from shoulder to shoulder, while the Hatter followed, using the sonic to scan, trying to look for the shadowy shape of the creature.

A frown crossed the Doctor's face as they came to a stop beneath the window, glancing up at it, "Damn, I think he's moved," he groaned to her when it became clear that the creature was no longer in the window.

Suddenly, the sound of something whooshing through the air sounded and before they had time to react, the mirror was smashed, the sound of the glass shattering echoing throughout the church as the Doctor cried out in surprise and automatically ducked.

"Doctor!" the Hatter shouted, jumping out of the way, managing to avoid being hit, but in her hast she ended up sending herself sprawling onto the hard floor of the church. She fumbled with the sonic for a moment as she scrambled back onto her feet, flashing the sonic through the air.

The Doctor jumped back up and wrapped an arm around the Time Lady as the creature gave a loud growl from somewhere close by. They made a dash back through the church, the Doctor pulling the useless harness off himself as the sound of large footsteps sounded behind them and an angry roar came. They reached the doors leading to the main entrance, glancing back over their shoulders, turning back…

"Doctor!" Amy called, appearing in the doorway, scaring them for a second time, making both Time Lords shout in surprise, "Hatter!"

"I thought we told you…!" the Doctor began, his eyes wide, flapping his hands around at her.

"Never mind that!" the Hatter exclaimed, hitting his arm, shaking her head, "We're being chased, scolding can come later, Doctor!"

"Yes, right," he nodded quickly, turning quickly back to Amy, "We'll talk about it later," he agreed, grabbing Amy's hand, pulling her over towards a confessional, "Quick, in here…" he and the Hatter hurried into one side, both squeezing inside the tight space that really wasn't built for two grown people, while Amy hid on the other side.

They waited, listening tensely as the creature moved outside, the sound of Amy's frantic breathing sounding even louder in the small, confined space.

"Don't make a sound," the Hatter whispered warningly, wedged firmly against the Doctor's chest and the back of the confessional. She could actually feel his hearts racing, they were so close, knowing that he could feel her own hearts racing, too.

The Doctor, slightly awkwardly, managed to pull back the small grill on the wall between their compartment and Amy's, "Can you breathe a little quieter, please?" he said quietly to Amy after a moment.

"No!" Amy hissed back, shifting slightly from her side as the Doctor pulled back the curtain on the door, peeking out through the tiny holes in the door, letting the moon light spill inside the compartment, "He's gone past," she told them softly.

"Shh," both Time Lords hushed quickly.

They listened intently for any sound, waiting, when…there was a loud growl and the Krafayis took a swipe at Amy's side of the confessional, making her scream, and sending wood flying.

The Doctor's eyes widened, his face inches from the Hatter's as he looked at her, "I think he heard us," he remarked, not bothering to keep his voice down.

"That means he'll come after us…" the Hatter began, only to cut off as the Krafayis slammed into their door, only just missing both Time Lords, creating a large hole in the door, "Blimey," she breathed, her eyes tracing the hole in the door, almost looking impressed, "That's some truly excellent hearing he has there".

The creature roared again and suddenly, a piece of panelling just above the Hatter's head was smashed, crating yet another hole as her hat was sprayed with dust. The Doctor forced her head down, wrapping his arms around her, spooked by just how close that had come to seriously injuring, if not killing the Hatter that hit had been. The entire confessional started shaking.

The Doctor swallowed thickly, his eyes flying around the small space, "What's less excellent are our chances of survival," he remarked, and Amy screamed.

"Hey!" Vincent's voice echoed around the church, making them blink, "Are you looking for me, sonny?" the Hatter straightened as she and the Doctor peered outside to see Vincent standing in the middle of the church, brandishing a chair around in front of him, "Come on. Over here," he called to the creature, "Because I'm right here waiting for you," he ducked before quickly lunging forward with the chair raised, taking a moment to motion over to the Time Lords and Amy to get out, "Come on, quickly!" he urged them hurriedly, "Get behind me".

Not needing to be told twice, they ran out of the booth and across to stand behind Vincent, the Hatter tossing the Doctor his sonic.

The Doctor caught it, flashing blindly at the air before them, "Doing anything?" he asked and Vincent shook his head. They backed away into another room with a dirt floor, moving behind Vincent again as he held the chair out in front of him, "Where is he?" he questioned, looking around widely.

"Where do you think he is, you idiot?" Vincent scoffed loudly, his eyes fixed on the door that they had just ran through, nodding towards it, "Use your head".

The large footsteps sounded closer, making the ground tremble faintly as the Doctor tried flashing his sonic at the air again, "Anything?"

"Nothing," Vincent shook his head, an odd look crossing his face, "In fact, he seemed to rather in enjoy it".

"Ooh, cheeky," the Hatter remarked, lowering the Doctor's arm, "I think you should put that away now," she said pointedly.

"Ah…yes," the Doctor coughed slightly, tucking the sonic back inside his blazer pocket. He moved further towards the back of the room, spinning around on the spot.

"Duck!" Vincent suddenly called to him, turning around to look at him, having been tracking the creature's movements. The Doctor ducked, "Left!" he cried, and the Doctor jumped sideways, only to be sent flying into the air, smacking into a stone wall across the room, making Amy squeal in alarm.

"Doctor!" the Hatter ran to his side, not caring about possibly running straight into the creatures path as the Doctor slumped onto the ground with a groan, grabbing at his chest. She fell beside him and wrapped an arm around him, trying to help him back onto his feet, knowing that they were easy targets sitting on the floor.

"Right, sorry," Vincent winced slightly, hurrying to stand in front of the Time Lords, holding the chair defensively out in front of him. Amy quickly moved to help the Time Lady pull the Doctor up, "Your right, my left".

"Easy enough mistake to make," the Time Lady waved him off, not taking her eyes off the Doctor, looking at him worriedly.

The Doctor sighed heavily, still clutching at his chest, letting his head rest back against the wall, "This is no good at all," he moaned, looking at the Hatter, "Run like crazy and regroup?" he suggested, scrambled onto his feet with the Time Lady's help.

Amy shook her head at him, "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, jumping onto her feet, making a dash up a couple of stone steps towards a door, "In here!" she threw the door open and Vincent dropped the chair as they ran after her and through into another large room that appeared to be a crypt.

They quickly tried to shut the door, the four of them putting all their combined weight and strength against closing the door as the creature pushed back against it. Vincent looked down, seeming to notice something as he lifted his foot, "And out!" he shouted, stomping his foot down on what the Hatter assumed to be the creatures foot, allowing them the chance to finally shut the door.

They fell against the door, breathing heavily as the creature growled from the other side of the door, sounding pained and frustrated, "Right, okay," the Doctor began quickly, pulling his sonic out of his pocket, "Here's the plan, Hatter, Amy, Rory…"

"Who?" Amy's head snapped to him, frowning.

The Hatter cleared her, throat nudging the Doctor's side sharply, "No one," she lied hurriedly, shaking her head, glancing over to her, "Just an old companion of mine, must have gotten confused with Vincent".

"Yes, that's right," the Doctor agreed at once, talking slightly to fast, glancing over to Vincent, "Sorry, um…Vincent," he gave the man an apologetic look, trying to make the lie more believable.

Amy sighed, seeming to shrug off the little moment, "What is the plan?" she asked urgently.

"Ah, well, we're still working on it," the Time Lady told her, wincing slightly at the glare she threw them both.

"Our only definite plan is that in future, I'm just using this screwdriver for screwing in screws," the Doctor added, casting the sonic a look before tucking it back inside his pocket.

The brunet laughed, rolling her eyes fondly, "Like that will last two minutes," she commented, raising an eyebrow at him, "I seem to remember you being a vegetarian once, that didn't last, either".

"I…tried, for a little while".

"Give me a second," Vincent cut in, holding up a finger to them, "I'll be back," he turned and ran across the crypt, disappearing from sight.

The Hatter cast the door a thoughtful look, "You know, talking to him might help," she said after a moment, glancing at the Doctor, shrugging, "You always have had a way with languages, much more than me, at least".

"Talking to him?" Amy exclaimed incredulously, staring at them as if they were mad.

"Well, yes," the Doctor nodded with a similar thoughtful expression as the Hatter, "Might be interesting to know his side of the story".

A loud growl came from the other side of the door, sounding angry.

The Time Lady winced slightly, wondering if it might not have been one of her better ideas, after all, "Somehow I don't think he's really in the mood for a chat," she sighed, just as there was another growl and the creature hit the door a couple of times, making it shake badly.

"Well, no harm trying," he sent to the Hatter a smile, turning around to face the door, "Listen," the creature banged again, "Listen!" he called sternly, and the growling and banging stopped, "I know you can understand me," he said through the door, pressing his hands to the surface of the door, "Even though I know you won't understand why you can understand me. I also know that no-one's talked to you for a pretty long stretch, but please…" he briefly rested his forehead against the door, desperately trying to get through to him, " _Listen_ ," he took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "We also don't belong on this planet. We're also…alone. If you trust us, we're sure we can come to some kind of, you know, understanding. And then, and then…" he closed his eyes, pressing his ear against the door, "…who knows?"

The window behind them shattered and a loud growl filled the air as the Time Lords and Amy jumped, whirling back around, their eyes wide with surprise. A strong wind moved through the room from the creature, blowing dirt and leaves around on the floor, knocking things over as the invisible creature seemed to move around the edge of the room.

Vincent ran back into the room and moved to stand in front of the Time Lords and Amy, holding up his easel out with the sharp points, "Over here, mate!" he called to the creature, peering around the side of a pillar.

The Time Lords and Amy ran to stand behind him, trying to follow his gaze. The Hatter narrowed her eyes, concentrating hard, and noticed a faint shadow moving around the edges of the room, making her frown. Why hadn't it attacked them? It didn't make sense, it was in the room, so why hadn't it made a move towards them?

"What's it up to now?" the Doctor asked Vincent.

"It's moving round the room," Vincent informed them, moving around the other side of the pillar, still holding the easel out in front of him, watching the creature, "Feeling its way around," he and Amy hurried over to a sarcophagus, peering over the top of it.

"It doesn't make sense, though," the Hatter frowned, shaking her head as she meet the Doctor's eyes, who seemed to agree with her, "Why hasn't he attacked?"

"It's like it's trapped," Vincent remarked, eyeing the creature, "It's moving around the edges of the room".

"I can't see a thing," Amy whispered, trying to squint her eyes, as if that might help to see.

The Doctor and Hatter's eyes widened in realisation as they both looked at each other, "Oh, we're idiots…" the Time Lady breathed, shocked that she hadn't made the connection before now, "Complete and utter idiots".

"Oh, get a grip!" Amy threw them both annoyed looks, "This is not a moment to re-evaluate your self-esteem".

"No, we really are idiots and we're growing old," the Doctor said softly, shaking his head at her as everything fell into place, "Why does it attack, but never eat its victims?" he and the Hatter hurried over to them, crouching behind the sarcophagus, "And why was it abandoned by its pack and left here to die?"

"Just think about it," the Hatter urged them quietly, "Why would it be feeling its way around the edges of the room, rather than just simply attacking us when it had the chance?" she looked over to the other side of the room to where she assumed the creature was still moving around, just as it roared and knocked over an old flag pole, "It's because he's blind," she finished sadly.

The Doctor sighed slightly, "That explains why it has such _perfect hearing_!" he complained, raising his voice at the last two words.

"Doctor!" the Time Lady hissed, hitting his arm.

Vincent's eyes widened, "Which, unfortunately, also explains why it is now turning around and heading straight for us," he told them quickly, and they jumped onto their feet as he positioned the easel in front of him as the sound of galloping footsteps sounded, heading towards them.

"Vincent," the Doctor looked at his back, sounding slightly nervous as he grabbed the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "Vincent, what's happening?" he asked urgently.

"It's charging now," he said, stepping forward with a determined expression, "Get back," he waved a hand back towards them, trying to push them further away from him, "Get back!"

The Time Lords and Amy moved back, watching tensely as Vincent moved forward to meet the creature, seeming to impale the creature with the end of his easel. The creature roared loudly in anger and pain and Vincent was lifted off the ground, still grasping onto the easel, suspended above the ground as the creature tried to toss the object from out of its body, but it only seemed to make it sink deeper as it cried out in even more pain. Amy yelped, jumping at the sound.

The Hatter tried to move forward, hating to hear the creature in so much pain, but the Doctor held her back, "Let go of the easel, Vincent!" she shouted to him, wincing with every cry the creature made.

Vincent let go of the easel and collapsed in a heap on the hard ground, and slowly stood. The creature moved further away from them with the easel still suspended in the air before collapsing with a pained, gasping groan. The Hatter broke away from the Doctor and ran over to the creature, moving towards where she guessed the head was, kneeling on the ground, while Amy moved to Vincent's side.

Vincent removed his hat, staring down at the creature, horrified by what he had done, "He wasn't without mercy at all," he realised, and Amy placed a comforting hand on his arm, the Doctor moving to kneel beside the Hatter, "He was without sight," he shook his head, looking at Amy, "I didn't mean for that to happen. I only meant to wound it, I never meant…"

"You weren't to know," the Hatter looked over to him sadly, her hand lightly stoking the creature's scaly head as a dark shadow began to grow on the floor, "It's not your fault, Vincent".

The Doctor frowned, moving closer to the creature, "He's trying to say something," he said quietly, listening closely.

"What is it?" Vincent questioned.

"I'm having trouble making it out," he swallowed slightly, taking the Hatter's hand, "But I think he's saying, 'I'm…I'm afraid. I'm afraid,'" he breathed, reaching out a hand to gently stroke the creature, too.

"Shh, it's okay," the Time Lady said soothingly to the creature, wishing she could offer him more comfort, "We're here. You're not alone. Shh…" the Krafayis took one last shuddering breath before stilling, and she sighed heavily, hanging her head as the Doctor rubbed his eyes, "He's gone," she told them quietly after a moment.

"He was frightened…" Vincent said softly, hanging his head regretfully as the Time Lords stood, "And he lashed out," he swallowed, blinking back tears, "Like humans, who lash out when they're frightened. Like the villagers who scream at me. Like the children who throw stones at me".

"Sometimes winning," the Doctor frowned, shaking his head, pulling the Hatter closer to his side, and she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes sadly, "Winning is no fun at all".

The Hatter took a deep breath, opening her eyes, "So very true, sweetheart".

….

While they were heading back to Vincent's cottage, they decided to take a small break and jumped a fence into one of the fields along the road, the Doctor helping the Time Lady over the stone fence. They made their way further into the field and laid down in a circle, theirs heads together as they stared up at the night sky with the stars twinkling down at them and crescent moon that hung above them as the wind blew through the leaves of the trees around them and tossing their hair.

Vincent reached for Amy's hand, who took it and reached for the Hatter's hand, while Vincent reached for the Doctor's hand, "Hold my hand, Doctor," he told him, and the Doctor took it and reached for the Hatter's free hand, entwining their fingers, "Try to see what I see. We are so lucky we are still alive to see this beautiful world," he looked back up at the night sky as the others did the same, "Look at the sky. It's not dark and black and without character. The black is in fact deep blue," he held up his hand still entwined with the Doctor's, pointing up at a section of the sky, "And over there, lighter blue…" he let go of Amy's hand and made a sweeping gesture across the sky, his voice growing more passionate as he continued, "And blowing through the blueness and the blackness, the wind swirling through the air and then, shining, burning, bursting through…the stars!" he sat up slightly, still keeping a hold of their hands, and slowly it was as if they were seeing through Vincent's eyes as the sky began swirling with colours, just like 'Starry Night,' "Can you see how they roar their light?" he asked, smiling up at the sky, "Everywhere we look, the complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes".

"I have seen many things, my friend," the Doctor remarked as the Hatter smiled softly, truly amazed to hear Vincent talk about how he saw the world around him, "But you're right," he nodded, smiling as he moved his head slightly try and look at him, "Nothing is quite as wonderful as the things you see".

"And we don't get to say that very often," the Hatter added quietly.

Vincent smiled, almost as if he was blinking back tears as he grasped the Doctor's hand tighter and pulling it to his chest. He looked over to Amy and pulled Amy's hand closer to him, seeming to be trying to memorise her hand, "I will miss you terribly," he said to her.

….

Dawn had already broken when they returned to Vincent's cottage, where he told the Time Lords and Amy to wait in the kitchen area before disappearing, returning a short time later with a painting in his hand, "I only wish I had something of real value to give you," he sighed, giving the painting to the Doctor.

They stared down at the picture in the Doctor's hand, struggling not to burst out laughing to see that it was his 'Self Portrait with Straw Hat,' completely delighted and highly amused by the idea that Vincent had just tried to give them one of his most famous paintings. It both broke the Hatter's hearts and made her laugh to be shown, once again, just how little Vincent thought of his own artistic ability. It was rather refreshing, actually, to come across an artist who didn't have an ego that could rival the Doctor's.

"Oh, no, no," the Doctor laughed, holding the very life-like painting up to Vincent's face, comparing the real thing to the painting, "We could never accept such an extraordinary gift".

"Very well," Vincent nodded, trying to hide his hurt as he took the painting back, waving it around as he continued, making the Time Lords cringe as it came close to being hit against a spice rack, "You are not the first to decline the offer. Amy," he careless sat the painting down on a table and turned to the red head, holding out his arms as he smiled at her, "The blessed, the wonderful".

Amy blushed slightly, looking very flattered as she returned the smile brightly and hugged him, letting him kiss both her cheeks as they embraced, "Oh, be good to yourself," she said to him, pulling back slightly, lowering her voice to a whisper, "And be kind to yourself".

The Time Lords smiles faded slightly, exchanging sad looks, wishing it was that easy.

"I'll try my best," Vincent agreed.

"And you maybe give the beard a little trim before you next kiss someone," she added, playfully rubbing her own cheek before laughing.

He chuckled, "I will," he assured her, "I will," he let go of her hand and glanced at the Time Lords, "And if you tire of this Doctor and Hatter of yours, return, and we will have children by the dozen!"

Amy nodded slowly, making a face at the idea of having dozens of kids, "Eek!"

He turned his attention to the Time Lords, holding out a hand to the Doctor, "Doctor, Hatter, my friends…" he smiled broadly at them, shaking the Doctor's hand before pulling the Hatter into a tight hug, making her laugh, kissing his cheek quickly as they pulled apart. He looked at them both, "We have fought monsters together and we have won," he sighed slightly, lowering his eyes to the floor briefly, "On my own, I fear I may not do as well," he admitted.

The Doctor looked at him for a moment, swallowing slightly, "Nah," he said, pulling Vincent into a tight hug, patting his back as Vincent chuckled slightly.

"Just take each day as it comes," the Hatter told him, trying to sound more confident, forcing away the urge to cry. She hadn't imagined that they would become friends when they had first started this adventure, but she certainly counted Vincent Van Gogh as a dear friend now.

The Doctor forced a happy expression onto his face as he and Vincent separated, saying their final goodbye's to Vincent as the Time Lords took each other's hands and left the cottage with Amy. They made their way out into the yard, making their way passed the front of the cottage and towards the street.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Doctor asked after a moment, sounding suddenly excited as he looked at Amy and the Hatter.

The Time Lady grinned broadly at him, "I do believe I am, sweetheart".

Amy looked thoughtful, "I was thinking I may need some food before we leave," she replied, glancing back to them.

He sighed slightly, pausing in the middle of the path leading to Vincent's cottage, "Well, no, you're not thinking exactly what we're thinking," he shook his head at her and turned back around to face the cottage, "Vincent!" he called.

Vincent leaned out of his bedroom window, shirtless with a yellow cloth in his hands and a straight razor in his mouth.

"We have one last surprise for you!" the Hatter said loudly, smiling broadly as he gave them a confused look. She paused, raising an eyebrow at him, trying hard not to laugh, "Though, you might want to at least put a shirt on first".

Vincent looked down at himself and nodded, quickly disappearing back inside the cottage, while Amy and the Time Lords waited. It didn't take him very long to get dressed and come back out to join them, wearing his hat and a brown blazer. They set off back through the streets of the town, the Time Lords happily leading the way as Amy trailed excitedly behind Vincent, looking forward to seeing his reaction.

"Now, you know how we've had quite a few chats about the possibility there might be more to life than normal people imagine?" the Doctor glanced back to Vincent as they rounded a corner, only to stop briefly and sigh in annoyance as he saw that the TARDIS had been covered in posters for some sort of circuits just ahead of them.

The Hatter pattered his arm, "Nothing a little trip won't sort out," she commented quietly to him, winking as he broke into a wide grin.

"Yes," Vincent nodded, frowning slightly, not hearing what the Time Lady had said.

The Doctor grinned over his shoulder to him, walking over to the TARDIS, "Well, brace yourself, Vinny," he reached inside his pocket, withdrawing his key as Amy giggled at the nickname. He used the key to slit the paper covering the edge of the TARDIS door before inserting the key into the lock, pushing the door open with a dramatic flourish.

Vincent moved forward into the console room as Amy and the Time Lords stood back, grinning as they watched his reaction as he took in the impossibly sized room squeezed into such a small box. He stared at the console for a long moment before slowly backing out, while the other three struggled to contain their excitement, watching as he peered around the edge of the doors with wide eyes, stepping out and around to the other side of the time machine, circling it slowly, touching the sides as if to check that it was real until he made it back to the doors, looking at the Time Lords and Amy.

He shook his head at them and stepped back through the doors, "How come _I'm_ the crazy one and you three have stayed sane?" he wondered aloud, making them smile, following him inside.

The Hatter laughed, taking his hat and hanging it up on the coat stand beside the door, "The Doctor and I being sane is highly debatable, for starters," she remarked, patting his shoulder as she moved passed him and up to the console, "And you would have to be half mad to agree to travel with us," she shot Amy a pointed look over her shoulder.

Amy laughed slightly, closing the door behind her, trying hard to contain her excitement as she followed the Doctor and Vincent up to the console.

"What do these things all do?" Vincent asked, staring at all the buttons and levels around the controls, amazed.

"Oh, a huge variety of things," the Doctor said brightly, moving around the console, "This one here…" he looked up and smiled, turning a knob, making classical music fill the air, "For instance, plays soothing music," he took the Hatter's hand and twirled her before dipping her suddenly, making her laugh, quickly adjusting her hat as he pulled her back up.

"You did that on purpose," the Hatter accused playfully, nudging his side, knowing very well how much he loved to twirl her around and dip her, and she would have to admit that she did love dancing with him, too, even when they were just being silly and making fools of themselves until they laughed so hard that they couldn't stand. Still, that was half the fun of dancing when it was just the two of them.

He grinned, quickly kissing her cheek, not bothering to deny it as he moved around to the demoralisation level, grabbing it, "While this one makes a huge amount of noise," he glanced at Amy and the Time Lady, both women nodding. He pulled the lever and the wheezing sound of the engines sounded, making Vincent grimace and cover his ear at the sudden noise, "And this one makes everything go tonto," he continued, pulling another lever as the Hatter hit a button.

The entire room started shaking as they set off, the Time Lords laughing, while Vincent stumbled around for a moment, shock written across his face as he managed to grab hold of the bar running beneath the scanner, clutching onto it, joining in with their laughter as he started getting over his first shock, "And this one?" he questioned, moving to touch a dial.

The Hatter quickly moved to his side, lightly grabbing his wrist and moving it away from the dial, "Ah, best not," she said warily, noticing that the Doctor looked as if he was about to have a double heart attack seeing Vincent inches away from touching one of the controls, "It's a friction contrafibulator," she informed him, adjusting the dial, "Very important".

Vincent nodded, looking around at the controls again, making sure not to touch any, "And this?" he pointed at a button with a red, glowing light sitting close to another button with a yellow, glowing light.

"That's ketchup," the Doctor joined them, and pointed to the yellow button, "And that one's mustard".

"We tend to snack a bit in here, sometimes we have hamburgers or chips," the Hatter added, shrugging, "We got tired of having to go all the way back to the kitchen to get sauce when we were in the middle of repairing, so we had it built into the console".

"Mmm, nice!" Vincent smiled broadly, turning around and grabbing the Doctor and Hatter's shoulders, looking at them both, "Come on," he urged them, and Amy lost her smile, looking slightly worried, "Back to the café and you can tell me about all the wonders of the Universe".

"Good idea," the Doctor nodded to him, glancing at the Time Lady, "Although, actually," he grabbed Vincent's shoulder instead, turning him around, "There's a little something we'd like to show you," he dashed around to the other side of the console, grabbing a level and pulling it, landing them.

The Time Lords and Amy walked back down the console and over to the doors, throwing them open, stepping out to find that they had parked outside the Musee D'Orsay museum once more. Even the snow on the pavement was the same, even though they had landed a few days after their first visit. The Hatter was amused to see that any trace of the posters that had covered the TARDIS had all been burnt off by the Time Vortex, just as she had known it would be.

Vincent followed behind them, looking around, having grabbed his hat before stepping out, "Where are we?" he asked, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the large glass front of the museum.

"Welcome to Paris in the year 2010 AD," the Hatter announced brightly, holding her hands out, grinning broadly at Vincent, making a sweeping gesture towards the museum, "And this is the Musee D'Orsay that holds the world's greatest paintings in history".

He smiled widely, delighted, "Oh, that's wonderful," he frowned slightly as he noticed two boys walk passed them with a radio playing a song, seeming unable to take his eyes off the device, amazed and confused.

"Ignore that," the Doctor waved a hand, putting a hand on Vincent's back, starting to guide him towards the museum, "We've got something more important to show you".

They led Vincent into the building, the Time Lords smiling broadly at each other as they linked arms, walking into the huge main gallery with just as many tourists as before, but they moved passed all of that and headed for the marble stairs. Vincent paused at the stairs, looking up at the ceiling where there was a walkway with misted glass above them, looking slightly overwhelmed by everything, before following after Amy as she headed up another set of stairs.

The Doctor let go of the Hatter's hand, trying to mimic the pose that the stature of the man holding the head of a Gorgon was doing, making the Time Lady laugh at him, shaking her head fondly as they linked arms again and hurried off after Amy and Vincent. They made their way through the room with the landscapes hanging on the walls and Vincent stared around at them all, his eyes wide before he came to a stop before Monet's 'Water Lilies'.

The Hatter let go of the Doctor and doubled back, realisation that Vincent had been distracted by the painting, seeming unable to look away from it. She smiled softly and took his hand, lightly tugging him off after the others, "Art has a wonderful way of distracting the eye, doesn't it?" she commented softly to him.

He laughed slightly and nodded in agreement, completely oblivious to the sign they walked passed with his name written on it and a hint of one of his own painters. They made their way into the large circle room with the Van Gogh exhibit and his eyes widened, catching sight of all of his paintings hanging on display on the walls of a wold class museum as masterpieces, while around the room with crowds of people admiring them.

The Doctor smiled broadly and held out his hands as Vincent slowly turned on the spot, staring around in complete and utter shock, unable to quite believable what he was witnessing. Amy smiled softly as she watched Vincent, so happy that they got to show him this.

The Hatter moved closer to the Doctor, "Doctor Black," she murmured to him, her eyes twinkling, "He seemed like a man who could say a good few things about her friend".

He clicked his fingers at her, looking around quickly, when he caught sight of the man talking to a group of school children and their teacher a short distance away, "Doctor Black," he called, moving over to the man, putting an arm around his shoulders, and guiding him over toward Vincent, "We met a few days ago," he reminded him, "We asked you about the 'Church at Auvers…'"

Amy gently turned Vincent around to face their direction.

"Oh, yes," Black nodded as they came to a stop before Amy, the Hatter, and Vincent, "Glad to be of help. You were nice about my tie".

"Yes," the Doctor laughed slightly, "And today is another cracker, if I may so," he gestured to the man's dark red and polka dotted tie, making the man smile and adjust it slightly, "But we just wondered, between you and me, in a hundred words, where do you think Van Gogh rates in the history of art?" he questioned, glancing at Vincent.

"Well, big question," he said slowly, looking slightly taken aback by it, "But, to _me_ , Van Gogh is the finest painter of them all," Vincent's head snapped around to look at him and his eyes filled with tears as the Hatter smiled softly at him, putting a hand on his arm, "Certainly, the most popular, great painter of all time, the most beloved," he continued, oblivious to Vincent standing right in front of him, "His command of colour, the most magnificent. He transformed the pain of his tormented life into _ecstatic_ beauty. Pain is easy to portray, but to use your passion and pain to portray the ecstasy and joy and magnificence of our world, no one had ever done it before. Perhaps no one ever will again. To my mind, that strange, wild man who roamed the fields of Provence was not only the world's greatest artist, but also one of the greatest men who ever lived".

Vincent began crying outwardly, holding a hand up to his mouth to try and hold back sobs, catching the others attention as the Time Lady put her arm around him, pulling him into a comforting hug, "Oh, Vincent," she said, looking at him in concerned, "We're so sorry, is it too overwhelming?" she asked worriedly, glancing at the Doctor, who moved to try and comfort the man, patting his back.

"No," Vincent rested his head against her shoulder briefly, "They are tears of joy," he told them, sniffing as he pulled back and looked over to Doctor Black, smiling broadly at him through his tears. He let go of the brunet and grabbed Black's hands, kissing both his cheeks, "Thank you, sir. Thank you," he pulled him into a tight hug.

Black blinked slightly, very surprised by the sudden gesture, and awkwardly patter his back, "You're welcome," he said to him, and Vincent let go of him, "You're welcome".

Vincent touched his beard, turning away from him, "Sorry about the beard," he mumbled sheepishly, heading back over to join the Time Lords and Amy.

…

The TARDIS landed and the Time Lords opened the door, letting Vincent step out before them to find that they had landed in an olive grove with the sun just starting to set. They had spent a while wondering through the Van Gogh exhibit, letting Vincent take in all of his paintings being on display before deciding that it was time to take him back home.

"This changes _everything_ ," Vincent said brightly, looking around happily with a new spring in his step, "I'll step out tomorrow with my easel on my back a different man," Amy stepped out behind them, closing the doors as he paused, frowning slightly, glancing at the Time Lords, "Though, I still can't believe that one of the haystacks was in the museum. How embarrassing".

The Hatter laughed, "Well, we can't pick how we're remembered," she remarked, shrugging, "You just have to hope that it's good and with a hint of amusement thrown in".

"Everything comes down to humour with you, dear," the Doctor shook his head fondly, giving her a smile before turning back to Vincent, "It's been a great adventure and a great honour," he held out his hand and shook Vincent's hand, quickly pulling him into a hug.

Vincent smiled, happily returning the hug, "You're turned out to be the first doctor ever actually to make a difference to my life," he informed him, pulling back from the hug, pointing a finger at his chest.

"I'm delighted," he grinned broadly at him, clapping his hands on his shoulders, "I won't ever forget you".

"And nor will I," the Hatter added, throwing her arms around Vincent, "You have become a dear friend to us," she kissed his cheek, ignoring the prickling beard as they stepped back from each other, fixing him with a stern look, "Never forget just how special you or your talents are, Vincent, because that would be a true tragedy. Always look for hope, even in the bleakest of moments".

"I will, I promise," he assured her, taking her hand one last time, giving it a squeeze before letting it go again.

She had to stop the sadness she felt wash over her from showing on her face, knowing what was to come for him. Even she had to admit that words could only do so much and sadly, this was one of those times. The Doctor took her hand, giving her a comforting look, feeling exactly the same way as she did as they turned and started heading back over to the TARDIS, setting to work unlocking the doors

He turned to Amy, who smiled widely at him, "And you are sure marriage is out of the question?"

"This time," Amy replied, laughing as she pulled him into a tight hug. The Time Lords watched them for a moment, noticing that she whispered something in his ear before kissing his cheek and stepped away from him with a wave, moving into the TARDIS, "Come on!" she called to them excitedly, disappearing inside, "Let's go back to the gallery right now!"

The Hatter laughed, exchanging a look with the Doctor as they closed the doors with one final wave to Vincent.

…

The Time Lords and Amy stepped out from the TARDIS, looking up at the museum before them as Amy took the lead, smiling broadly with excitement as she headed for the building, while the Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a quick look behind her back.

Amy glanced back to them before jogging through the snow on the pavement, "Time can be rewritten," she remarked happily, practically skipping ahead of them, "I know it can. Come on!" she called back to them.

"Should we say something?" the Doctor whispered to the Time Lady as they entered the museum again.

The Hatter sighed and shook her head, "No, I think it's better if she sees for herself," she replied quietly, a grim look on her face.

Amy darted up the marble staircase as they reached it, "Oh, the long life of Vincent Van Gogh," she grinned back to them, jogging up the second set of stairs, looking so sure of herself, "There'll be _hundreds_ of new painters".

"I'm not sure about that," the Doctor muttered, he and the Time Lady following her slowly.

She threw them an impatient look as they walked through the landscape gallery, "Come on!" she groaned, grabbing the Hatter's hand, and dragging the brunet after her, paying their reserved expressions no mind. She skipped back into the Van Gogh exhibit, forcing the Time Lady along with her, and looked around excitedly, expecting to see brand new paintings hanging all over the walls, but as she looked around, she realised that they were all the same ones that they had already seen.

The Hatter winced and put a hand on Amy's shoulder, knowing that the painful truth was about to hit her, and glanced over to the Doctor, who had paused in the entrance to the exhibit.

"We have here the last work of Vincent Van Gogh, who committed suicide at only thirty seven," Doctor Black's voice drifted over to them from where he was talking to a group of tourists before a painting. Amy closed her eyes tightly in grief, her hope for what they might have changed shattering as the Time Lady wrapped an arm around her, "He is now acknowledged to be one of the foremost artists of all time," Black continued, "If you follow me now…" his voice trailed off as he lead the group over to another painting.

Amy swallowed painfully, opening her eyes to look back to the Time Lords, "So, you were right," she said shakily, lowering her eyes to the floor, blinking back tears, "No new paintings," the Doctor moved closer to them as she looked back up, "We didn't make a difference at all".

"Hey, you mustn't think that way," the Hatter said gently, putting a hand on Amy's cheek, giving her a soft smile, "Every action, no matter how small, leaves its mark and makes a difference, even if it's not obvious at first," she pulled her in for a hug, seeing that she looked as if she needed one, "And for a brief moment, we did make a difference to Vincent's life, we made him realise that for the first time in his entire life, his paintings were truly loved and that he would forever be known in history as the greatest artist to have lived," she pulled back from her, wiping Amy's tears away, "That makes all the difference in the world".

"Every life is a pile of good things and bad things," the Doctor added in agreement, "The good things don't always soften the bad things. But, vice versa, the bad things don't necessarily spoil the good things or make them unimportant," he smiled at Amy, glancing at the Time Lady, "And like the Hatter said, we definitely made a difference to Vincent's life. And…" his eyes lit up as he grabbed both Amy and the Hatter's hands, "If you look carefully…" he pulled them over to the 'Church at Auvers' painting, eyeing it, "Maybe we _did_ indeed make a couple of _little_ changes".

They looked at it for a moment, "No Krafayis," Amy realised, smiling.

"Exactly," the Time Lady grinned at her, her eyes moving to rest on the window of the church, now empty, "No Kradayis".

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand as they admired the painting, examining it closely, just to make sure that there wasn't anything else hidden on the canvas that they might have missed, while Amy turned around and moved back to the middle of the room, when she caught sight something across the other side of the room and broke into a smile. The Time Lady glanced over her should, nudging the Doctor's side when she saw Amy walking across the room, staring at something.

They followed after her and joined her as she came to a stop before the 'Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers' that was hanging on a black wall, pride of place, separated slightly from the other paintings. And right above Vincent's signature on the vase was a small note saying, 'For Amy'.

The Doctor whistled as he noticed the message and the Hatter smiled broadly, feelings tears prickle her eyes at the gesture. Even she could tell that it was very romantic, which was saying something because she really wasn't very good at romance, even now she sometimes had to get the Doctor to just explain or act bluntly when he tried to do something romantic.

Amy blinked back tears, staring at the painting, "If we had got married, our kids would have had very, _very_ red hair," she remarked.

"The ultimate ginger," the Doctor said playfully.

"The ultimate ginge," she agreed, smiling as the Time Lords laughed, turning back to the picture, "Brighter then sunflowers".

As they stood there, admiring the picture, the Time Lords smiled at Amy and wrapped their arms around her shoulders.

 _ **I loved this episode, it was just so beautifully made and really enjoyed writing it, plus, Vincent Van Gogh has got to be one of my favourite artists. I should warn you that I start school on the 1**_ _ **st**_ _ **of February, so updates might take a bit longer, but I do have the next update finished, so don't worry about that.**_

 _ **Next chapter, the Doctor and the Hatter get to play humans, we get a glimpse into what goes on behind closed doors, and the Hatter has a surprising knowledge about something.**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **Well, she'll have her moments. She's a bit dense about some things, like the Eleventh Doctor, and that will be a bit more noticeable in the next two chapters, but as for rude…well, you'll have to wait and see. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **That's a good idea and it's funny you should mention the Hatter meeting the Ninth Doctor because I've actually been thinking about writing something like that for a while now in a one-shot, though, rather than for the Fiftieth. Thank you for the suggestion and review :)**_


	21. Chapter 21 The Lodgers, Part 1

_**The Lodgers, Part 1**_

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and peeked out as the Hatter joined him, looking out to find that they had landed in what appeared to be a park somewhere with brick houses lining the streets, each looking similar to each other. The sun was just starting to rise, casting a pink glow over the sky.

"No, Amy," the Doctor sighed slightly, looking around as the Time Lady stepped out of the doorway, picking up a fallen leaf from the ground, "It's definitely not the Fifth Moon of Sinda Callista," he moved further out of the door, frowning, and squinting off down the street, "I think I can see a Ryman's".

"A Ryman's?" the Hatter raised an amused eyebrow at him, casting her eyes back down the street, "Isn't that an stationery shop?" she laughed slightly, crutching the leaf up in her hands, "Shall we pop in for a couple of pens and sticky notes? You never know when they might come in handy".

Suddenly, there was a blast of pressure from inside the TARDIS and the Doctor we sent flying onto the ground, landing on his back at the Time Lady's feet, his eyes widening, "Amy!" he and the brunet shouted urgently as the TARDIS engines filled the air, starting to dematerialise, "Amy!" the Hatter grabbed the Doctor's hand, helping him up as they looked helpless to the spot that the time machine had just vanished from, "Amy! Amy…" they breathed, too late.

They looked at each other, horrified. Amy was stuck inside a malfunctioning TARDIS with no way of escape or knowledge of how to even try to control it, helpless and alone, while they were stuck on Earth with no idea of what was happening or where to even begin to fix it. The situation couldn't get much worse.

….

With little else to do, the Doctor and the Hatter headed off down the street, trying to come up with a plan. They found a small café and went inside, taking a seat by the window. A young girl come up to them and took their order.

"Right," the Doctor began as the waitress walked away, looking across the table to the Time Lady, "Amy's trapped inside the TARDIS, we don't know what's going on, and we have no way of contacting her".

"That about sums it up, yeah," the Hatter nodded, sighing heavily, very worried for Amy, "I think we need to figure out how to talk to Amy first," she said thoughtfully, reaching inside her pocket, withdrawing a pen and a slip of paper, "I think I have an idea of just how to do that".

Together they started planning out a rough draft for an earpiece that could easily be made from objects they could find anywhere in the day and age they had found themselves in. They both agreed that for the sake of convinces, they would need to make two devices with scrambling capabilities so that they could avoid being overheard and a strong enough connection to be able to contact the TARDIS, regardless of wherever it was.

The waitress returned and sat two plates in front of them with a full English breakfast, along with two cups of tea, "Your order," she smiled politely at them.

"Thank you," the Doctor grinned at her, looking eagerly over his breakfast as he grabbed his knife and fork, digging in.

"Yes, thank you," the Time Lady added, carefully tucking the slip of paper and the pen back inside her leather jacket, satisfied that it was complete. The waitress walked away as the brunet focused on her plate, sighing slightly as she took in the mountain of food in front of her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, swallowing a mouthful of bacon, noticing the slight grimace.

"I'm just not feeling very hungry," she replied warily, "I think I'll just have some toast".

"But it's bacon!" he exclaimed, staring at her as if she was mad, "You love bacon, you're always stealing mine!"

"Sweetheart, your bacon's safe with me…at least today," she paused, something occurring to her, "Hang on, do we even have money to pay for this?"

The Doctor paused with his folk half raised up to his mouth with scrambled eggs, "Oh," he said slowly, looking slightly sheepish, "I forgot about that part".

The Hatter looked caught between exasperation and amusement, shaking her head at him, "Give me the sonic, I'll get the money," she said, rolling her eyes as he quickly pulled his sonic out of his blazer, passing it to her. She stood, adding over her shoulder as she headed for the door, "You just stay here and try not to spend any more money that we don't have".

…

Once they had got themselves some money and payed for their meal, they set to work collecting the things they would need to build their earpieces, which took them the rest of the day before they had everything that they needed and had the device built, sticking them into their ears. They managed to get into contact with Amy, who had quite a fright when she realised that they had disappeared, and tried to explain to her what to do to calm the TARDIS down by using the Zig Zag Plotter every time the shaking and jolting would start again.

Feeling slightly better now that they had a way to speak with Amy, the Time Lords began to make their way through the streets, only to pause as they came across a shop window with several notices sticking to it, but one of them caught their eyes. A small card had been stuck above another notice, written in red ink and with Amy's hand writing that said: 'Doctor, Hatter, this one. No. 79A Aickman Road. Amy XX,' followed by an arrow that was pointed down to the notice below it that said, 'One furnished room available immediately, shared kitchen, bathroom, with twenty seven year old man, non-smoker, four hundred pounds pcm, per calendar month. Suit young professional'.

The Doctor broke into a grin, glancing at the Time Lady beside him, "Perfect".

"Exactly what we need," the Hatter agreed, her eyes twinkling, "We'll have to thank Amy later…" she paused, thinking about what she had just said, "Well, once she's actually written the notice and put it up, otherwise it will be rather confusing".

He ducked inside the shop and grabbed the notes, ripping them off the window, tucking them inside his blazer as he stepped back outside. The Time Lords linked arms and went to get more money, enough to fill half a paper bag before trying to find the right address that proved to be harder than they had first thought, but eventually they found the place, which turned out to be only a short distance from where they had landed in one of the brick, two story houses across from the park.

They approached the red door and the Hatter pressed the doorbell, quickly adjusting her hat while they waited. The door was thrown open a moment later by a plump man with a bit of stubble on his face, holding a set of keys with a bright pink pom-pom hanging on the keyring, shouting, "I love you!"

The Time Lords blinked, exchanging a look as the man seemed to realise that they were standing there and stared at them, stunned, clearly having expected someone else.

"Well, that's good, 'cos we're your new lodgers," the Doctor grinned at him, taking the Hatter's hand again as the man seemed speechless, taking them both in from the Doctor's tweed blazer to the Hatter's bright yellow shoes, "Do you know…" he continued, his eyes landing on the key's in his hands and he plucked them out of his hands, still smiling at the man, "This is going to be easier than I expected!"

"Yes, I thought there would be a lot more fuss, to be honest," the Hatter agreed, leaning back slightly to look up at the second floor bay window, eyeing it for a moment. She sensed something…off about, but just couldn't work out what yet, still, she doubted that would last long. They always got there in the end, it just might take them a little while. They certainly weren't as young as they used to be.

The man frowned deeply at them both, getting over his shock, "But I only just put the advert up today, I didn't put my address".

"And here comes the fuss," the Time Lady murmured dryly to the Doctor, who struggled not to burst out laughing. She fixed the man with a bright, friendly smile, "Don't worry, we're very good at putting puzzles together," she told the man, "It's a hobby. Plus, luck. We're very lucky people…sometimes," she paused thoughtfully, "Sometimes we're very unlucky, which does tend to happen a lot, now that I think about it…" she trailed off, realising that she was rambling and the man was staring at her as if she was insane, "Right," she coughed, embarrassed, "Sorry, I'll just stop talking now".

The Doctor cleared his throat, trying hard to hide his laughter as he wrapped an arm around the brunet's waist. He really was enjoying this rambling side of her latest regeneration, "Anyway, you're more lucky than you know," he remarked, casting his eyes up towards the top floor, noticing something off about it, too, before turning back to the man, "Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur," he smiled at the Hatter, "Oh, and this is the wife, the professional one".

"Hello!" the Hatter said cheerfully, grabbing the man's hand before he had time to blink, shaking it quickly, and letting him go once more, her eyes moving back up towards the top floor, "Lovely to meet you," she finished slightly absently.

"Frankly, we're an absolute dream," the Doctor added, smiling at the man.

The man stared at them both, his eyes slightly wide, still trying to comprehend the idea that the rambling woman was supposed to be the more professional of the two, "Hang on," he shook his head at them, looking slightly confused, "I don't know if I want you staying," he frowned slightly, "I wasn't really looking for a married couple. And give me back those keys!" he snatched the keys out of the Doctor's hand, making the Doctor blink slightly, "You can't have those!" he exclaimed, almost sounding annoyed.

"Ah, yes, sorry about that," the Time Lady nodded, sending the Doctor a look, "He tends to get a little over excited sometimes, it's a trait we share, I'm afraid," she shook her head and smiled at the man, holding out the paper bag with money inside it, "Here's a down payment for the rent".

The man took the bag and looked inside, his mouth fell open and eyes widening even further as he took in all the cash notes sitting at the bottom of it.

"That's probably quite a lot, isn't it?" the Doctor commented, glancing down at the contents of the bag as the man's head snapped back up to look at them, "Looks like a lot. Is it a lot?" he glanced at the Hatter, raising his eyebrows at her, "You said it was a bit much, didn't you?"

"Just a bit, yeah," she smiled fondly at him, amused as she glanced at the man, "I tried to tell him we didn't need that much, but he was very insisted that he knew what he was doing," she scoffed, rolling her eyes, "Typical".

"Well, I can never tell," he defended himself, grabbing her hand, and they quickly took the chance to slip passed the man as he was distracted by the contents of the bag. The man jumped slightly and closed the door, hurrying after them as they stepped into the entrance hall with original Victorian tiles on the floor, a wooden staircase that led up to the upper floor where a door was on the small landing, while off to the side of the hall was a second door, which the Time Lords guessed lead to their new flat.

The lights flicked as the Time Lords stepped closer to the bottom of the stairs, looking carefully up towards the door on the landing, having a feeling that everything that was going on was connected to whatever was behind that door. It had to be, why else would Amy have left them that note directing them to this place unless it had something to do with what was happening? Besides, something felt off about the upstairs. That was for sure.

"Don't spend it all on sweets," the Doctor told the man, spinning back around to face him, "Unless you like sweets. I like sweets and the Hatter used to be mad for sugar, completely obsessed. I used to wake up to find lolly papers in the bed".

The Hatter cleared her throat loudly, elbowing his side, "Yes, well, I was going through a bit of a phase," she muttered, her cheeks growing pink, "Still, one eventually grows out of such things, case in point," she made a sweeping gesture down her front.

"Ooh," he suddenly said, remembering something, and quickly grabbed the man's upper arms to stop him from moving, giving him two Gallic air kisses. The man stared at him, startled, "That's how we greet each other now days, isn't it?"

"Not quite," the brunet smiled, highly amused, finding it quite sweet on the Doctor's part. She stepped closer to the man, "I don't believe we said our names, I'm…Hattie, but everyone calls me the Hatter," she informed him, deciding it would be best to alter her name slightly if they were playing the role of humans.

"And I'm the Doctor," the Doctor introduced himself before pausing, glancing back towards the landing door, "Well, they call me the Doctor, I don't know why. I call me the Doctor too," he frowned, turning back to the man, "Still don't know why".

The man blinked at him before shaking his head, "Craig Owens," he said slowly, eyeing the Doctor strangely, "The Doctor?" he repeated.

"Yep," he nodded, glancing back towards the landing door, quickly changing the subject, "Who lives upstairs?"

"Just some bloke".

"Right, interesting," the Hatter remarked thoughtfully, eyeing Craig's reaction carefully, "And what does he look like?"

"Normal," Craig shrugged, shaking his head, "He's very quiet…" the sound of glass shattering and loud footsteps banged on the ceiling above them, making them look up, "Usually," he frowned, looking at the Time Lords as they headed for their new flats door, "Sorry, who are you again?" he asked, only to be ignored as he hurried after them, "Hello?" he called after them.

They entered the flat to find an open plan living and kitchen area off to the side of the flat with a hallway leading off from the small entrance. The Time Lords made their way further into the living room, their attention immediately caught by a large black stain on the ceiling in the corner of the room, seeming to be mould.

Craig closed the door behind him, following them, "Excuse me?" he frowned deeply at them, not very happy that they had just simply walked into his home without asking.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, eyeing the stain, slipping his hands inside his trouser pockets, "I suppose that's…dry rot?" he glanced at the Time Lady.

"Or damp. Or mildew".

"And possibly nothing of the sort," the Hatter commented softly, moving closer to the stain until she was directly beneath it, trying to get a closer look. Not that she knew very much about damp or dry rot, but something about that stain didn't sit right with her. She sniffed the air, wincing a slight metal twang hit the back of her throat, almost making her gag.

"I'll get someone to fix it," Craig assured them.

"No, we'll fix it," the Doctor said quickly, taking the Time Lady's hand as she moved back to his side, casting her a slightly concerned look as he noticed she looked paler then normal, "I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister," he grimaced, shaking his head as the brunet gave him a raised eyebrow look, "No, I'm the Doctor," he glanced back to Craig, "Don't call me the Rotmeister".

"Anyway," the Time Lady said loudly, turning away front the stain, casting her eyes around the room, "You have quite a lovely home," she smiled at Craig.

"Yes, this is the most beautiful parlour I have ever seen," the Doctor agreed, moving to pull himself up onto the breakfast bar of the kitchen, wrapping his arm around the brunet's shoulders as she moved to lean against the counter. Craig stared at them both, "You're obviously a man of impeccable taste," he continued, giving the man a hopeful look, "We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can".

"You haven't even seen the room," Craig reminded them, still quite shocked by just how strange they both were.

"The room?" he repeated, slightly confused.

" _Your_ room".

The Hatter nudged the Doctor's side, " _Our_ room," she clarified.

"Oh, yes, our room!" the Doctor's said brightly, his eyes lighting up with excitement, "Our room," his voice softened slightly and he slipped off the counter, wrapping an arm around the Time Lady's waist, turning back to Craig, "Take us to our room!"

Craig looked at them strangely for a moment before turning and leading them out of the kitchen, off the down the hallway, pointing out a door. The Doctor moved forward and pushed the door open, stepping inside with the Hatter to find themselves inside a small bedroom with old fashioned wallpaper, a double bed, and a chest of drawers pushed against the edges of the room.

"Yeah, this is Mark's old room," Craig explained to them as they looked around the room. The Doctor pressed on the mattress a few times, testing it as the Hatter pulled back the curtain on the window, peeking outside, "He owns the place, moved out about a month ago," he continued as the Doctor turned back to him, "An Uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money".

The Hatter flopped down onto the bed, wiggling around slightly to get comfortable, quite pleased once she had settled into a comfortable position, "How very convenient," she remarked, glancing over to the Doctor, "I think this will do quite nicely, sweetheart…"

There was another bang upstairs, followed by the sound of things crashing with more glass shattering, making them all look up at the ceiling.

The Doctor licked the tip of his finger and held it up in the air, testing it for a moment as Craig gave his finger an odd look, "No time to lose," he commented, lowering his finger as he looked back to Craig, "We'll take it. Ah…!" he exclaimed, reaching inside his pocket, "You'll want to see our credentials…" he withdrew the psychic paper and flashed it at Craig, "There…National Insurance numbers…" he switched it around his back, holding it up again, "NHS numbers…" again, moving it around his back and holding it back up once more, "References…"

Craig's eyes widened, amazed, "Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?" he gaped as the Doctor tucked the paper inside his blazer.

"We're his special favourite," he said quietly, putting a finger to his lips as if it was big secret. He smiled and spun around to face the Hatter, who was still lying on the bed, "Are you hungry, dear?" he asked, his voice returning to its normal level, "I'm hungry".

The Hatter flashed him a grin and took his hand, letting him pull her up from the bed, "Excellent idea," she nodded to him as they headed for the bedroom door, "I'm suddenly feeling quite hungry".

Craig frowned after them, hurrying to catch up with them as they walked down the hall and back into the kitchen, "I haven't got anything in," he told them.

The Doctor hardly seemed to hear him as he went straight for the fridge, throwing the door open, looking inside, while the Hatter leaned against the kitchen counter. He smiled broadly, grabbing a packet of bacon, some cheese, and two eggs, "You've got everything I need for an omelette," he announced, throwing the cheese and bacon onto the counter, and grabbing a frying pan, putting on a French accent, "Fines herbes pour trois!"

The Time Lady shook her head fondly as he set to work cooking, breaking the eggs messily on the edge of the pan, tossing the empty shells aside without a care as he grabbed a wooden spoon, using it to whisk the eggs around in the pan. He was definitely going to be the one to clean up after that mess he was creating, still, it was almost worth it. He did make the best omelettes.

"So, Craig," the brunet began, casting a quick look over to the man standing beside the fridge, "Tell us about the girl on the fridge," she nodded to the picture of a blonde woman smiling at the camera beside Craig, appearing to be sitting in the back of a car. She raised her eyebrows at him, "Who is she?"

"My friend," Craig answered, glancing quickly at the photo, "Sophie".

She smiled teasingly at him as the Doctor added some pepper to the pan, "Is she your girlfriend?"

He blushed slightly, "A friend who is a girl," he clarified, trying to hide his embarrassment, shaking his head. The Doctor exchanged a quick look with the Hatter, reaching for the grater, "There's nothing going on".

"Ah, that's completely normal," the Doctor nodded, grating the cheese over the top of the pan, shrugging, "Can't say it worked for us, though…" he gestured to the Hatter, giving her a soft smile as he sat the grater and cheese back down on the counter, "Still, I've had plenty of girls who are just friends," not that he had ever been really interested in a romantic relationship with someone other than the Hatter. He might have had faint feelings for Rose when he thought that he had lost the Hatter, but those feelings were quickly overshadowed when he found her again. She had been the only one he had ever wanted and loved in that sense. He shrugged again, turning back to the pan, "Anyway, works for me".

"How did you and Sophie meet?" the Hatter asked Craig curiously. She had always found the way that people met to be quite interesting, especially considering how she and the Doctor first met.

Craig smiled slightly, seeming to enjoy remembering the moment, "We met at work about a year ago at the call centre".

"Oh, really, a communication exchange?" the Doctor remarked, pleased as he added some salt to the pan, "That could be handy".

"Yeah, the firm's going down, though," he continued to explain, sighing slightly, "The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do, I got a plan all worked out, but I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best," he frowned as the Doctor threw some bacon into the pan, moving over to the fridge, pulling the door open, and grabbed a bottle of mayonnaise, "Why am I telling you this?" he shook his head, almost sounding confused as the Doctor squinted the mayonnaise into the pan, "I don't even know you two".

"Oh, people are always doing that," the Hatter assured him, shrugging as the Doctor started whisking the omelette again, "We must just have those faces that make people feel relaxed to tell us their plans and life stories, though, they don't always work…" she paused thoughtfully, "Actually, they rarely work like that. Forget I said they did".

Craig eyed her strangely for a moment before shaking his head, straightening, "Right, where's your stuff?" he questioned, clapping his hands together.

"Don't worry, it'll materialise," the Doctor waved him off, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, "If all goes to plan".

…

The Doctor and the Hatter where sitting in an armchair in the living area, the Time Lady perched on the armrest, both just having finished their omelettes, practically licking their fingers, having enjoyed it so much.

Craig put his plate down on the coffee table and fell back onto his sofa, tilting his head back, "Oh, that was incredible!" he remarked, amazed as he glanced back over to the Time Lords. The Hatter laughed, nodding in agreement, "That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?" he asked the Doctor.

"Paris, in the eighteenth century," the Doctor replied.

The Hatter cleared her throat, leaning closer to him, "Try again, sweetheart".

"Right," he nodded, quickly turning back to Craig, who was frowning at them, "No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? Seventieth?" he tried, glancing at the Time Lady, who shook her head, "No, no, no, twentieth," he corrected himself and the Hatter smiled at him, kissing his cheek. Tenses and time travel really were hard to keep track of, "Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order," he said to Craig.

Craig eyed them both for a moment, "Has anyone ever told you two that you're a bit weird?" he questioned.

The Time Lady laughed loudly as the Doctor smiled, taking her hand, "They never really stop," he said, amused.

The Hatter managed to stop laughing, settling on smiling widely, "What's life without a little bit of weirdness?" she commented, raising her eyebrows at Craig, "Anyway, what about you, Craig? Have you ever been to Paris?"

She had noticed that he had a card on his fridge door for the Vincent Van Gogh exhibit that they had gone to three weeks ago…well, at least she thought it had been three weeks since that very fun adventure with old Vincent. It was so hard to keep track of how much time passed in the TARDIS, even for her and the Doctor.

"Nah," Craig shook his head, sighing slightly, letting his head fall back against the sofa, "I don't see the point of Paris," he glanced back over to them, "I'm not much of a traveller".

The Doctor nodded, eyeing him, "I can tell from your sofa".

"My sofa?" he blinked, confused.

"You're starting to look like it".

"Doctor," the Hatter muttered, nudging the Doctor's side with a scolding look.

Luckily, Craig seemed to find it more amusing then offensive, "Thanks, mate," he laughed, "That's lovely!" he continued to chuckle, shaking his head, "No, I like it here…" absently, he began toying with the pink pom-pom hanging on the key ring on the set of key's he had snatched off the Doctor earlier, catching the Time Lords attention, "I'd miss it, I'd miss…" he trailed off.

"That set of key's, perhaps," the Hatter said, raising an amused eyebrow.

"What?" he looked up sharply, startled as he glanced down at them in his hand.

"You're sort of…fondling them," the Doctor added, eyeing the keys with a slightly knowing look. He remembered doing that with the Hatter's signet necklace when he was missing her or thinking about her, though, usually away from the eyes of his companions to prevent them from giving him those annoying knowing looks that they always seemed to have whenever the Time Lady was mentioned or around. He much preferred to see her wearing it now, in fact, she never took the thing off.

Craig dropped the keys on the armrest of the sofa, "I'm holding them," he defended himself, standing with a blush spreading across his face.

"Right," the Time Lords both nodded, unconvinced.

"Anyway…" he moved across the room and over to a table that was sitting against the wall by the door, "These…" he fished another set of keys out of a bowl, turning back around to face them with a smile, holding the keys out to them, "These are your keys," he informed.

"We can stay?" the Doctor asked, excited as he stood and meet the man halfway across the room, the Hatter stood and joined them, grinning.

"Yeah, you're weird and you can cook," he laughed, shrugging, "It's good enough for me," he held up each key, "Right, outdoor," he explained, showing them another key, "Front door," and another, "Your door".

"Our door," he smiled broadly, glancing at the Hatter, linking his arm through hers, "Our place. Our gaff…" he grabbed the keys, laughing, "Ha-ha! Yes!" he tossed the keys to the Time Lady, deciding she would be less likely to lose it. She caught it, slipping it inside her jacket pocket, "Us with the keys!"

"And listen," Craig went on, lowering his voice slightly, glancing between the Time Lords, "Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you two ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?" he winked at them.

The Doctor winked back at him, even though he didn't understand what he meant. The Hatter gave Craig a curious look, too, "Why would we want that?" he asked.

He looked between them again, looking slight uncomfortable, "Well, you two are married…" the Doctor stilled looked clueless, while the Hatter finally made the connected and felt a blush cover her face, "So if you want some privacy…" he went on, slightly awkwardly.

"Oh, we will," the Doctor nodded, still unsure about just what he was talking about, but judging from the amused look that was quickly replacing the blush on the Hatter's face, she seemed to understand, "We'll shout if that happens. Yes," he agreed, "Something like…WE WERE NOT EXPECTING THIS!"

The Hatter laughed, putting a hand on the Doctor's arm as Craig looked slightly startled by the sudden shout, "Thank you, Craig," she smiled at him, "We'll keep that in mind," she cleared her throat, casting a look over towards the stain on the ceiling, "But onto a different note, that rot…" she nodded towards it, a serious expression on her face as she looked back to Craig, "You know, I don't think it would be a very good idea for us to touch it or try meddling with it," she flashed Craig another smile, "Night!"

The Doctor slapped Craig on the shoulder as he and the Time Lady headed out of the room, down the hallway towards their new room before Craig could even blink. The Hatter pushed the door open, closing it as the Doctor moved over to the bed and flopped down onto it, making it bounce. The Time Lady joined him, flopping beside him, putting her head on his chest as they activated their communication devices in their ears

"Earth to Pond," the Doctor called over the link, "Earth to Pond. Come in, Pond".

"Doctor!" Amy shouted back, causing a loud screech of feedback, making both Time Lords wince and grab at their ears, "Ooh…sorry," she said in a softer voice.

"Would you mind not destroying our new earpiece, Amy?" the Hatter grumbled slightly, rubbing at her ear, "It took us hours to get all the parts and to build them," she shook her head, "Anyway, how's the TARDIS?"

"See for yourself," she replied, and the sound of the TARDIS whirring with a strange bonging sound came over the link.

"Ooh, nasty," the Doctor remarked, sitting upright with the Hatter, both looking very concerned, "She's locked in a materialisation loop, trying to land again but she can't".

"And whatever's stopping her is upstairs in that flat. So go upstairs and sort it!"

The Hatter sighed heavily, resting her back against the headboard of the bed, frowning up at the ceiling, "We can't, not without knowing what we're dealing with first," she told her as the Doctor stood on the bed, eyeing the ceiling carefully, "Anything with enough power to prevent the TARDIS from landing is extremely dangerous".

"And big," the Doctor added warily, looking back down to the Time Lady, " _Scary_ big".

"Quite so," the Time Lady agreed softly, unnerved by the idea of just what might be upstairs.

"Wait…are you scared?" Amy asked, sounding very worried herself.

"Not exactly, just healthily cautious," the brunet corrected lightly, pulling herself up on the headboard to stand beside the Doctor, taking his hand, "The fact is, Amy, we can't possibly just go up there and causally knock on the door without having any idea of just who or what we might dealing with," she shook her head, sighing again, "That's one very sure and rather stupid way for us to get ourselves killed, and while we have done some rather idiotic things in the past, this shall not be one of them. I, for one, do not have a death wish".

"It is vital that this 'man' upstairs doesn't realise _who_ and _what_ we are," the Doctor went on, a smile crossing his face as he grabbed the Hatter's other hand and started bouncing on the bed, the Time Lady happily joining in, laughing, "So no sonicking," he said after a moment, laughing slightly as he pulled the brunet closer to him, "No advanced technology".

"We only have these communicators," the Hatter commented, reaching up to tap the Doctor's device in his ear, "And that's only because we thought it would be wise to include a scrambling setting".

The Doctor let go of her and jumped off the bed, glancing over towards the wall between their room and Craig's, who they both assumed had gone to bed, "To anyone else hearing this conversation, we're talking absolute gibberish," he explained to Amy, stepping over to one of the drawers, pulling the top drawer open, taking a look inside.

"I almost wish I knew just how we sounded," the Time Lady smiled, amused by the idea of it as she jumped off the bed, too, moving over to peek outside the window at the darkened, empty street.

He found a tube of hair gel and removed the lid, pushing it against his quiff. The Hatter laughed and shook her head fondly at him, stepping across the room to him, taking the tube off him before he accidently poked himself in the eye. That's the last thing they needed, a whiny Doctor with a sore eye.

"All we've got to do is pass as an ordinary human couple," the Doctor said to Amy, noticing a pair of sunglass in the drawer and grabbing them, "Simple. What could possibly go wrong?" he slipped the glasses on, spinning around to show the Hatter.

The Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, looking slight impressed, "Blimey, you really need to start wearing sunglass, sweetheart," she told him, eyeing him slightly, "They suit you very well," he grinned broadly, looking quite smug as he kissed her cheek quickly. She cleared her throat, "Anyway, need I remind you that you need to stop saying things like that, otherwise you're just going to end up jinxing it," she shook her head, "We have enough bad luck as it is".

"Have you seen you two?" Amy cut in incredulously, scoffing, "You two as an _ordinary human_ couple?"

"So you're just going to be snide?" the Doctor sighed, stepping across the room to look at himself in the mirror with the glasses on, "No helpful hints?"

"Hmm, well, here's two…bow tie, get rid! Same with the yellow shoes, Hatter!"

The Doctor slipped the glasses down his nose, "Bow ties are cool," he defended.

"And don't diss the shoes!" the Hatter added, sounding highly offended as she looked down at her bright yellow shoes, quite proud of them, taking a seat back on the bed, "Not everyone can pull yellow off as superbly as I can!" she huffed.

He cast the brunet a sideways look, raising an eyebrow as he slipped the glasses inside his pocket, "And you've been calling me egotistical for centuries," he muttered, amused that this new regeneration of hers seemed to be less humble then her previous two had been, especially her Ninth one, "Come on, Amy," he tried, moving back across the room, picking up a book, "I'm a normal bloke, tell me what normal blokes do".

"They watch telly, they play football…" Amy answered, listing them off for him in an almost bored tone of voice, "They go down the pub".

He flickered the book rapidly, "I could do those things," he replied, shrugging. The Hatter laughed, shaking her head at him, the idea of him being in an Earth pub or just simply watching TV without complaining after the first five minutes being far to amusing. He gave her a mock hurt look, "I _don't_ , but I could," he said quickly.

"I believe you, sweetheart," the Time Lady nodded with a playful look before turning serious, "Anyway, what about human women?" she asked, "What do they do?"

"Watch telly, shop, go to yoga class".

"Shop?" the brunet repeated, making a face, "As in _clothing_ shopping?" she shook her head, looking horrified by the idea, "Not a chance. That's almost worse than the weekly tea seasons I had to endure with my Mother for two centuries".

Suddenly, there was a loud banging noise from above.

"Hang on," the Doctor dropped the book, looking worried as the Hatter jumped off the bed, moving to his side, looking just as concerned, "Wait, wait, wait! Amy?" he called urgently over the link.

"Come on, talk to us, Amy," the Hatter muttered, shifting nervously on the spot, wincing as Amy started screaming and yelping on the other end of the link. She quickly looked across to the set of drawers, noticing that the hands on an alarm clock sitting on top of it were spinning rapidly back and forth. She nudged the Doctor's side, drawing his attention to it, and he quickly checked his own watch, "How very curious," she remarked thoughtfully, noticing that all the clocks around them were doing the same thing, "It's a localised time loop".

"Interesting," he agreed, watching the hands on his own watch spin.

Amy screamed again, "Ow!" she yelped, "What's all that?"

"Time distortion," he replied, his and the Hatter's eyes moving up towards the ceiling, very alarmed by the latest development, "Whatever's happening upstairs, is still affecting you".

She cried out again, this time for even longer, before gasping, "It's stopped…ish," she informed them after a moment, sounding slightly confused, "How about your end?"

"It's okay here now," the Hatter said, exchanging a wary look with the Doctor as he lowered his arm back to his side.

"So, doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?"

"No, no, no, not really!" the Doctor nodded quickly, trying to keep just how worried he really was out of his voice as he and the Time Lady sat on the end of the bed, taking each other's hands, "Just keep the Zig Zag Plotter on full, that'll protect you".

There was a moment of silence before a loud noise sounded from Amy's end, "Ah!" she shouted, sounding slightly pained from the sudden loud sound.

"The Zig Zag Plotter!" the Hatter called to her, wincing at the noise, knowing that the old girl wasn't going to like that, "Use the Zig Zag Plotter, Amy!"

"I pulled the Zig Zag Plotter!"

The brunet sighed slightly, forcing her voice to sound more patient and calm, knowing that Amy was growing frustrated, "Are you standing with the door behind you?" she asked, imagining the console in her mind, which was quite easy, she was surprised to find.

"Yes!"

"Right, good," she smiled, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "Now just take two steps to your right and try pulling the lever again," she instructed calmly. They waited for a moment, listening closely as the noise in the background seemed to fade and Amy sighed in relief, "Well done, Amy," she cheered, wishing the girl could see her wide smile, "Excellent job".

"Yes, well done," the Doctor agreed as the look the Time Lady sent him. He cleared his throat and stood, "Now, we must not use the sonic," he reminded himself more so then the Hatter, moving around to the side of the bed, grabbing a folded up scooter, chucking it on to the bed, "We've got work to do, need to pick up a few items".

They clicked the comms. off as the Hatter stood, taking his hand as they headed for the door. The Time Lady already had a mental list of items they would need and should be easy enough to find…though, one of two things might require a little bit of old fashioned breaking and entering. Not that they were stealing, more like _borrowing_ , or so the Doctor had been very sure to express. Needless to say, the Hatter hadn't missed the chance to make a remark about how he _borrowed_ his TARDIS, too.

…

Together, the Time Lords set to work wondering around the streets in the middle of the night and sometimes into other people's backyards in search of different objects. Eventually, they had what they needed and they returned to the flat with the Doctor wheeling a shopping trolley full of bits and pieces, while the Hatter kept an eye out, not wanting to have to explain why they had a trolley of junk in the middle of the night.

Carefully, the Doctor pulled the trolley over the curb of the street, walking backwards as a cat meowed loudly from somewhere in the distance, "Shh," he hissed to himself, casting a wary look up towards the top window, "Don't get comfortable".

The Hatter reached inside her pocket and pulled out the keys, walking over to the door as the Doctor followed closely behind her with the trolley, "Let's just get inside before someone decided to call the police on us," she muttered to him, unlocking the door.

They tried to push the trolley as quietly as they could into the entrance hall and through to their flat, not wishing to wake Craig as they moved down the hallway to their bedroom. The Hatter pushed the door open and let the Doctor wheel the trolley in first before following, closing it behind her.

"Right, then," the Doctor remarked, pushing the trolley off to the side of the room, rubbing his hands together as he stepped back over to the bed and flopped down, making it bounce slightly, "Now, we just have to move the mattress and we can start building".

The Time Lady laid beside him and put her hat on the bedside table, closing her eyes, "It's a shame," she sighed slightly, "I was actually feeling a bit tired tonight. I usually prefer to sleep every two to three days, otherwise my mind isn't quite a sharp as I would like it to be".

She felt the bed dip to her right as the Doctor rolled onto his side to face her, edging close until he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to his side, making her smile softly as he pressed a light kiss to her neck, just below her ear. Her last regeneration would have found the sensation very ticklish and would have been squirming with laughter, luckily, this new version of her wasn't anywhere near as ticklish.

"We could always put it off for a few hours yet," he said softly, toying with a tip of her hair.

She cracked her eyes opened and rolled onto her side so that she was facing him, giving him a cheeky smile as she wrapped an arm around his neck, "I suppose we could, couldn't we, sweetheart?" she smirked playfully at him, using her other hand to trace his jawline.

He groaned slightly and closed his eyes, letting his head pressed against her forehead, "Why do you have to be so…tempting?" he grumbled, opening his eyes to give her a mock annoyed look.

"You make that sound like it's a bad thing".

"I thought you said you were tired. This _isn't_ tired".

The Hatter laughed, raising an eyebrow at him as she kissed the tip of his nose, "Are you seriously going to complain?" she asked, amused, "You and I both know how quickly my mood can change in an instant".

"Very true," he agreed at once, closing the small gap between them and kissed her, making her laugh into the kiss.

….

The next morning, the Doctor had gone to take a shower while the Hatter was in their room, blow-drying her hair with the dryer that she had found under the bathroom sink. She didn't usually bother with drying her hair, not unless she needed to get dressed-up or something, but she thought she would give it a go if she was playing the role of a human woman. Besides, the noise of the machine blocked out the sound of the Doctor singing loudly in the bathroom next door.

Once she had finished drying her hair, she sat the machine down on the chest of drawers and started brushing it. She paused briefly as she realised that the Doctor had stopped singing, but thought nothing of it and finished brushing her hair, happily putting her hat on, taking a moment to adjust it so that it was sitting on an angle that wouldn't let it go flying off while she was running. Outside the door, a phone rang.

Giving her reflection one last look, she nodded to herself and headed for the door, pushing it open, and stepped outside. She walked into the kitchen, giving Craig a wave as she noticed him talking to someone on the phone, "Where's the Doctor?" she mouthed to him. He hadn't taken any clothing with him into the bathroom, which meant that he really ought to have returned to the bedroom by now.

Craig returned the wave and pointed to the flat's door, looking almost amused by something. She blinked slightly, trying to figure out what he was doing, wondering around without any clothing on…she very dearly hoped he had at least remembered to wear a towel, but judging from the amused rather than horrified look on Craig's face, he had at least covered himself with something.

The Time Lady headed for the door, poking her head around the edge of the doorframe to see the Doctor, still dripping wet and with a blue towel wrapped around his waist, holding an electric toothbrush, giving a very bemused blonde haired woman that the Hatter recognised as Sophie two Gallic air kissed.

"Well, I suppose it could have been worse," the brunet muttered to herself, highly amused by the scene before her, especially the look on poor Sophie's face. She cleared her throat and stepped further out into the hall, giving Sophie a friendly smile, "Hello, Sophie, isn't it? I'm Hattie, but please call me the Hatter"."

Sophie jumped slightly as they both looked at the Hatter, "Oh, ah, yes," she said, still looking quite startled, "Hi".

"Don't mind him," the Hatter told her, nodding to the Doctor, who attempted to drape a wet arm over her shoulders, only for her to duck it with a cheeky smile in his direction, "He doesn't make a habit of meeting people like this, I assure you," she raised her eyebrows at him, "What have you been doing this time, sweetheart?"

"Nothing!" the Doctor said quickly, making her narrow her eyes at him. He held up his hands, giving her a mock exasperated look, "Why is it that I'm always getting blamed and accused?"

"Well, you are currently holding a toothbrush, dripping wet, and wearing nothing but a towel," she resorted, shrugging as she headed back inside the flat with him following closely behind her with a still very startled Sophie, "I think the question was pretty justified here".

"No, Dom's in Malta, there's nobody around," Craig was saying over the phone as they entered the flat, his eyes landing on the Doctor, "Hang on a sec…" he stepped into the Doctor's path, forcing him to stop, "We've got a match today, pub league, we're one down if you fancy it?" he said to him, looking hopeful.

The Doctor paused, looking slightly confused as he glanced at the Hatter, who could only shrug, not knowing what Craig was talking about either, "Pub league?" he repeated, turning back to Craig with a frown, "A drinking competition?"

"That's probably not a good idea," the Hatter cut in, casting the Doctor a sideways look. The last time he had gone out drinking had been on his stag night because Jack had insisted every groom had to go on one. Jack and Mickey had practically carried him back to the TARDIS, blind drunk only a few very short hours later after he had managed to get drunk after only visiting two clubs. She had spent the rest of the night sitting beside him in one of the bathrooms, rubbing his back as he hunched over the toilet, vomiting, while she tried to get some more fluids into him without having them just come back up again. After that, she had banned him from having more than two drinks, three if it was a special occasion and depending on the alcohol concentration. Time Lords just couldn't handle their alcohol.

Craig gave them both a very odd look, pressing his phone against his shoulder, while Sophie put a small bottle of milk that she had brought away in the fridge, "No…football," he clarified, looking at the Doctor, "Play football?"

"Football," the Doctor repeated, trying to remember the game, "Football!" his eyes brightened as he recalled Amy mentioning it the night before, glancing at the Hatter, "Yes, blokes play football! I'm good at football, I think".

He broke into a broad smile, "You've saved my life!" he exclaimed, delighted, holding the phone back up to his ear as he pattered the Doctor's cheek, "I've got somebody," he said into the phone as the Doctor pattered his cheek, too before heading for the fridge, "All right, see you down there," he ended the call and turned to Sophie with a big smile, "Hey, Sophie!"

"Hey, I thought I'd come early and meet your new flatmates," Sophie smiled back at him, casting the Doctor a quick look as he opened the fridge, grabbing the milk.

"Do you play, Sophie?" the Doctor asked as he joined them again, unscrewing the lid on the carton, taking a gulp.

"Doctor," the Hatter sighed, giving him a scolding look.

He quickly lowered the carton, swallowing his mouthful with a sheepish look, "Sorry, dear".

Craig his throat slightly, "No, Sophie just stands on the sidelines," he informed them, answering the previous question as he smiled, "She's my mascot".

"I'm your mascot?" Sophie looked at him, frowning slightly, " _Mascot_?"

"Well, not my mascot, it's a football match, I can't take a date".

"I didn't say I was _your_ date".

"Neither did I," Craig said quickly, looking at the Time Lords.

The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a look as the four of them stood awkwardly in silence for a moment, "Ah, sweetheart," the Time Lady looked at the Doctor, "I think you had better get some clothing on now".

"Right, yes," the Doctor nodded, handing Craig his toothbrush back as he and the Hatter headed for their room, both wanting to try and escape from the awkward moment.

"Oh, the spare kit's just in the bottom drawer," Craig called after them as they reached the door, stepping inside.

The Doctor peeked his head around the edge of the door, not wanting Craig to get a look inside, "Bit of a mess," he replied, quickly closing the door.

The Hatter knelt on the floor by the set of drawers, pulling the bottom open. She laughed as she found the uniform and held up the shirt for the Doctor see the number eleven embroidered on the back of it, finding it highly amusing.

He smiled back at her, laughing as he pointed at the shirt before a thought occurred to him and he pulled the door open again, poking his head out to look at Sophie. The Time Lady looked at him curiously, "You unlocked the door," he commented, "How did you do that? Those are your keys," he pointed to the set with the pom-pom hanging on them, "You must have left them last you came here".

"Yeah, but I…" Sophie began, blinking slightly as she held up the keys in her hand, "How do you know these are my keys?"

"I've been holding them," Craig admitted, blushing as he closed his eyes, embarrassed.

Sophie didn't seem to notice, "I have another set," she replied, holding up a second set of keys.

"You've got two sets of keys to someone else's house?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows at her, glancing back over his shoulder to the Hatter, amused.

"Yeah".

"I see!" he smiled, turning back to Sophie, "You must like it here too," he closed the door and spun around to look at the Time Lady, just as she threw a pair of dark blue shorts at him. He caught them, fumbling slightly.

The Hatter laughed slightly, watching as he finally managed to get a grip of the fabric, shaking her head as she turned around to give him some privacy. Even now, after the three years of marriage, he could still blush brighter than the Earth sun, "Do you know how to play football, Doctor?" she questioned, hearing the sound of the towel drop onto the floor.

"Ah…maybe".

"That's your code for 'haven't got a clue,' isn't it?"

The Doctor grinned and crept up behind her, wrapping his arms around her front, kissing her cheek, "It's the one with the sticks, right?"

She turned around in his arms, laughing again as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Not even close. I think you might be confusing football with cricket…or perhaps baseball".

He raised his eyebrows at her, "And you would know the difference?"

"I, unlike you, happened to have an almost equal number of male companions. Max was football mad. He made me take me to see a game once, so yes, I do happen to know the difference".

"I'll never doubt you again, dear," he promised her, reluctantly letting her go as she passed him a pair of rolled up socks and shin guards. He sat on the end of the bed and started putting the shin guards on before pulling the long, blue socks over the top of them.

"I should hope not," she flashed him a grin, turning serious, "Football has a few simple rules. One, no hand contact to the ball, you can use your knees, head, feet, any body part _but_ the hands. Secondly, the aim of the game is to get the ball into the opposite teams goal without it being caught by the goalie. Thirdly, keep the ball in the field, otherwise it will be a throw-in award for the other team and it's one of the only parts of the game that you are actually allowed to touch the ball," she raised her eyebrows at him, "That covers the basics, the rest you can gather from watching the others play".

"Right," he said slowly, nodding, "No hands, that sounds…hard".

"No harder than trying to hit a ball with a slim bat…" she paused, seeming to think over what she had just said as she handed him his shirt, "Well, not unless you understand psychics, then it's easy enough to do".

He laughed and reached up to click his comm. in his ear, the brunet doing the same with her own, "So the Hatter and I are going out," he told Amy, pulling the shirt over his head, looking down, only to find that he had put it on backwards with the number eleven across his chest. He quickly started to put it around the right way, "If we hang about the house all the time, him upstairs might get suspicious, notice us".

"He's going to play football," the Hatter told Amy, moving to adjust the collar on the Doctor's shirt as he got it around the right way, slipping his arms through the short sleeves.

"Football," Amy repeated, "Okay, well done, that is normal," she commented, sounding almost impressed that they had actually managed to do something normal.

"Yeah, football," the Doctor agreed, sneaking a kiss on the Hatter's cheek before she stepped back from him, flashing her a wide smile, "All outdoorsy".

"And now we just have to see if you can actually play the game," the Time Lady added, amused as she found a pair of football shoes in the corner of the room that, by some stroke of luck, happened to be the right size for the Doctor. She chucked them to him, laughing as he fumbled with them, trying to juggle with them before he ended up dropping both shoes with a funny, last minute leap to try and fail to catch them before they hit the floor. This version of him really was so clumsy, he was even worse than her First regeneration. She raised her eyebrows at him, grateful he wouldn't need to try and catch anything, "Well, this is just asking for trouble," she sighed.

…

The Time Lords walked, hand-in-hand with Craig and Sophie through the park as they headed for the large football field that they were supposed to be playing at. The Hatter smiled fondly as she glanced at the Doctor, who had insisted on wearing his tweed blazer over his uniform. She supposed she should have been more surprised that he hadn't tried wearing his bow tie, too.

"What are you _actually_ called?" Craig asked the Doctor, carrying his football shoes in one hand and the ball under his other arm, "What's your _proper_ name?"

"Just call me the Doctor," he replied, shrugging, not seeing why humans were so insisted upon needing to have a proper name for things all the time.

"Yeah," Sophie laughed, seeming to find it more amusing than anything else.

"What's wrong with 'the Doctor?'" the Hatter questioned, raising her eyebrows over to Craig. She gave the Doctor a wink, "I think it's an excellent name that speaks of compassion and trust," she reached up to pat the Doctor's cheek, who was grinning broadly at her, looking very pleased with himself, "Just like the man himself".

Craig sighed, shaking his head, "I can't say to those guys, 'hey, this is my new flatmate, he's called the Doctor and that's his wife, the Hatter'".

The Time Lords simply looked at each other before turning back to him, "Why not?"

"And you can always call me Hattie," the Time Lady remarked, pausing with an amused expression, "But I should warn you that I may not answer. I much prefer the Hatter".

"'Cos it's weird," Craig tried to explain to the Doctor as they approached a group of men, all wearing the same uniform as the Doctor and Craig as they stood on the edge of the field.

"All right, Craig," a man called to them, breaking into a broad smile as they neared him, "Sophie," he nodded to her in greeting, "All right, mate," he slapped Craig's hand as he passed him, moving off to the side to put his shoes on.

The Doctor stepped towards the man, holding out his hand, "Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate…" he introduced himself, shaking the man's hand before giving him two Gallic air kissed, making the other man lean back with a startled expression, "I'm called the Doctor," he continued brightly, letting go of his hand, oblivious to the man's discomfort, "And this is my wife, the Hatter," he held out a hand towards the Time Lady.

"Hello!" the Hatter said brightly, taking the man's hand, shaking it enthusiastically before letting him go just as quickly, making him blink at her, "Lovely to meet you," she told him brightly.

The man glanced between her and the Doctor, seeming surprised to learn that they were married, "All right, Doctor, Hatter," he smiled at them and pointed to himself, "I'm Sean. Where are you strongest?" he looked at the Doctor.

"Arms," he answered quickly.

"Technically, the tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body…" the Hatter began, but trailed off as everyone, save for the Doctor, who was nodding in agreement with her, looked at her strangely. She coughed, feeling her cheeks heating up, "Ah…never mind. That's not how I wanted to introduce myself. I'll just save that for if we ever do a trivial night, or something".

"Right…" Craig said slowly, moving back over to them with the ball still in his hand, eyeing both Time Lords oddly before shaking his head, "He means…what position?" he clarified to the Doctor, "On the field?"

"Not sure," the Doctor replied thoughtfully, "The front? The side? Below?"

Sean frowned slightly, starting to look worried, "Are you any good, though?"

The Doctor grabbed the ball off Craig, spinning it around his fingers, "Let's find out!" he darted away from them, kicking the ball up in the air and onto the field, practising passing it between his own feet.

The Hatter laughed, watching him go, "Come back here and give me your blazer!" she called after him, shaking her head fondly, "Honestly, the man can be so easily distracted".

….

As it turned out, the Doctor was brilliant at football. The Hatter stood beside Sophie on the edge of the field with the Doctor's blazer draped over her arm, both woman watching excitedly as the teams started playing against each other at the sound of the referees whistle. The Doctor, right from the start, practically dominated the field as he dodged between opposition members, intercepting passes here and there, head butting the ball, and even managing to score a number of goals.

The Hatter smiled broadly, feeling very proud as she noticed the delighted look on the Doctor's face as he kicked yet another goal and the crowd cheered loudly, she happily joining them. But she couldn't help noticing that Craig seemed less happy about the Doctor's new found football ability as the Doctor seemed to have a tendency be so focused on the game that he didn't even notice when Craig called for him to pass the ball to him, and as the game went on and the more goals the Doctor managed to get, Craig's displeasure only seemed to grow as the crowd, including Sophie, even started cheering the Doctor's name.

And of course, when the game was just about to end and the Doctor managed to kick the winning goal, the entire crowd and team went wild. People start running out onto the field to congratulate the players, but the Doctor went running straight for the Hatter, who meet him halfway across the field, and he picked her up, spinning her around in his excitement before kissing her deeply, earning a few whistles and more cheers from the people around them.

The Hatter laughed, breaking the kiss as she blushed deeply, "You're all sweaty and muddy," she commented, smiling fondly at him as she reach up to run a hand through his damp, messy hair and the bottom of his legs were covered in mud.

"Did you see me get that last goal?" the Doctor asked her eagerly, his eyes very bright as he hardly seemed to be able to stand still.

"Of course, you don't think I would miss a second of you playing, do you?" she raised an eyebrow at him, smiling at him proudly, "You were wonderful, truly. You would have thought you had been playing the game for years".

She helped him put his blazer on and tidy his hair a little bit, kissing him quickly again. As they broke away again, they noticed the rest of the team had moved off to the side of the field by a park bench, waving them over. They made their way over to them, the Doctor wrapping his arm around the Hatter's waist as they leaned against the back of the bench, just as Sean returned from having gone back to his car to grab a plastic bag and started passing out beers.

"You are _so_ on the team!" Sean called to the Doctor, grinning broadly at him, handing Craig a beer before holding out another towards the Doctor, "Next week we've got the Crown and Anchor, we'll annihilate them!"

"No violence," the Doctor said, suddenly deadly serious as he straightened, staring Sean down, "Not while we're around, not today, not ever. I'm the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm…" the Hatter cleared her throat, giving him a pointed look. He paused briefly, his expression softening slightly, "…and you meant beat them in a football match, didn't you?" he realised.

"Yeah…" Sean nodded, staring at him, very bemused and startled by the Doctor's sudden shift in mood.

"Lovely," he remarked, smiling, back to his happy self again, "What sort of time?"

"Don't mind him," the Hatter gave Sean a comforting look, casting the Doctor a quick glance, "He's harmless really…well, mainly. Just as long as you don't plan to take over anything or hurt anyone, then you're safe".

"I don't think that was very helpful, dear," the Doctor muttered to her as Sean blinked at her, looking unsure if she was being serious or not.

Craig opened his can, causing it to spray over his front, making him automatically close his eyes. Everyone, save for the Time Lords, who glanced over to him, laughed, but just as they had turned back to Sean, the same thing happened again. The scene started repeated over and over again as the Time Lords frowned, exchanging a very worried look as they realised what was happening. They moved away from the group, activating their earpieces.

"Amy?" the Doctor asked worriedly over the link, "Amy?"

"It's happening again!" Amy shouted back, her voice sounding slightly strained, "Worse!"

"Look at the scanner," the Hatter instructed her quickly, "Tell us what it says".

"A lot of nines. Is it good that they're nines? Tell me it's good that they're all nines!"

The Time Lady swallowed nervously, exchanging a very alarmed look with the Doctor, "Of course it's good," she lied, trying to make her voice sound brighter and cheerful, knowing very well just how bad it really was, "Nothing to worry about, just remember the Zig Zag Plotter, Amy. Use that".

The Time Lords waited, listening intently as it sounded as if the TARDIS had jolted violently, following by Amy's screaming, "Amy?" the Doctor questioned tensely, his voice lower as the screaming stopped, "Are you there?" they waited for a moment for a reply, "Amy?" he called more urgently.

 _ **Can I just say on a random note that I love soccer, it's probably one of the only sports I actually like, aside from archery. Sorry, I just had to mention that. Next chapter, the Doctor decides to develop some manners at the worst moment, the Hatter isn't very happy with him, and the Hatter is clueless as to what to do. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **Thank you for the suggestion, I'm always very grateful for when people take the time to suggest things to me. As for the Hatter shooting Kovarian…I think that was an important moment for Amy to get some closure after everything that happened, and as for the Hatter's involvement, she's certainly not going to stand in Amy's way. The Hatter knows exactly what it's like to lose a child and she's not going to stand in the way of Amy getting some closure, not this time.**_

 _ **I think that if there was ever a time for the Hatter to turn a blind eye to violence, it would have to involve something to do with children and Kovarian snatching Amy and Rory's child away from them and turning her into an assassin would have to be one of those times. She's certainly not going to let that pass and your right, we will see a darker side of the Hatter come out during that time. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest review (2):**_ _ **Ooh, that's a big question, and one that I'm not even sure about yet. The Hatter is going to be heartbroken over Clara's death, just like the Doctor was, and she's going to blame herself for not intervening sooner with Clara's recklessness. It's very hard to say much more than that just simply because of spoilers. The Hatter and Clara's relationship is going to be quite a close one, so when Clara dies, it's going to be a huge blow for the Hatter, especially and it's going to have a big impact upon her future actions during 'Hell Bent' and might just see her doing things that she would otherwise morally not do or approve of. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (chapter 19):**_ _ **Danny and the Hatter is going to be interesting, and of course the effect that Danny will have on Clara with the Time Lords is going to cause some tension, especially between Clara and the Hatter. Thanks for the review :)**_


	22. Chapter 22 The Lodgers, Part 2

_**The Lodgers, Part 2**_

It was a tense moment as the Doctor and the Hatter waited, hardly daring to breathe as they took each other's hands, until…, "Yes," Amy's voice came back over the link, sounding slightly breathless, making the Time Lords sigh in relief, "Hello".

"Ah, thank heavens," the Doctor breathed as the Time Lady closed her eyes, breaking into a small smile, "I thought the TARDIS had been flung off into the Vortex with you inside it…lost forever," he said, whistling in relief.

"Wait, you mean that could actually happen?" Amy gasped, sounding very alarmed and panicked. The Hatter winced and nudged the Doctor's side sharply for scaring the girl, "You have got to get me out of here!"

"Don't worry, everything is going to be just fine," the Hatter tried to calm her, keeping her voice gentle, "We're working on it, you just stay calm," she threw the Doctor another pointed look, making him wince at it, "How are the numbers now?" she asked, not taking her eyes off him.

"All fives," she replied after a moment.

"Fives?" the Doctor repeated, glancing over his shoulder towards where they had left the team and Sophie by the bench, finding that the loop had finally ended, "Even better," he remarked, slightly more relaxed now, but even with it being five it was a little concerning, "Still, it means the effect's almost unbelievably powerful and dangerous, but like the Hatter said, don't worry".

The Time Lady sighed, elbowing his side again. Honestly, the poor girl was frightened enough as it was, he didn't need to go about adding just how powerful and dangerous the thing was, "Amy, you just focus on looking after yourself, okay?" she cut in, sounding confidant, "I promise you, we will get you out of there, safely, we just need to do a bit more work".

"Hey!" Amy suddenly shouted.

"We've got some rewiring to do," he agreed, paying no attention to Amy as he tapped his earpiece off, cutting off the link.

The Hatter did the same, turning to the Doctor, still very worried for Amy, "We need to get back to the flat," she said, looking determined, "I'm afraid we just might have our work cut out for us this time, sweetheart".

….

It was later on in the afternoon and the Doctor and the Hatter were busy working on building a scanner in their room, having finally found the time to move the mattress off the bedframe and put it against the wall while they started building the large device in the middle of the frame with the bits and pieces that they had brought home with them the night before in the trolley. They were just starting to put the final pieces of it all together when there was a knock on the door. They both paused and glanced over towards the door.

"You had better get it," the Hatter commented quietly to the Doctor, "My hands are little full at the moment," she nodded down to her hands as she was in the middle of attaching some springs to the device with some wire.

He nodded and stepped over to the door with a bright orange traffic corn under his arm, pulling the door open to find Craig standing outside the door, "Hello, _flatmate_!" he greeted brightly.

"Hello, Craig!" the brunet called cheerfully from within the room, out of sight from the doorway.

"Hey," Craig said, looking slightly awkward, "Listen…ah, Sophie's coming round tonight and…" he gave the Doctor a pointed, slightly hopeful look, "I was wondering if you could give us some _space_?"

The Time Lady sat up a bit straighter as a smile spread across her face, having a very good idea just what he was planning to do, delighted by the idea. Craig seemed completely smitten with Sophie and Sophie seemed quite taken with him, they were just too afraid to admit it to each other. It really did remind her of herself and the Doctor, though, luckily it seemed that Craig wasn't going to wait centuries to finally tell her. She dropped the spring and wire she was holding, jumped onto her feet, and hurried to stand beside the Doctor in the doorway.

"I'm sure we can manage that," she told Craig happily, giving him a wide smile. She gave the Doctor a pointed look, "Can't we, sweetheart? We'll go out for a long walk or something."

The Doctor blinked at her for a moment before it finally hit him just what was going on, and why Craig was so keen to have his privacy with Sophie. He smiled broadly, his eyes lighting up, knowing exactly how Craig was feeling, both terrified and excited at the same time, he just hoped that Craig wouldn't chicken out at the last minute like he had dozens of times before.

"Oh, don't mind us," he nodded to Craig with a knowing look, "You won't even know we're here…" there was another loud bang above them, making them glance up, "That's the idea," he sighed, slamming the door closed on Craig's face.

The Hatter shook her head at him, amused as she pulled the door open again, poking her head back out to look at Craig, "You just focus on Sophie," she said to him, giving him a wink, "Trust me," and with that, she closed the door, moving to stand beside the Doctor as they admired their creation.

"Yes, perfect!" the Doctor grinned broadly, running his eyes over the device, pulling the Hatter closer to his side, kissing her forehead, "What a beauty!"

The Time Lady laughed, "Goodness knows what Craig must be thinking right now," she remarked, hearing Craig's footsteps heading down the hallway outside the door, knowing that he had heard the Doctor's outburst.

….

Night had fallen while the Time Lords continued to work on their scanner and they decided to go for a walk outside to stretch their legs a bit, but as the Doctor opened the door with a couple of cables looped around his neck, they could hear Craig and Sophie talking in the living room, Sophie having arrived while they had been working, apparently.

"We'll have to sneak out," the Hatter whispered, sighing slightly. She knelt on the floor and started crawling along the floor, desperately hoping that Craig or Sophie wouldn't notice them.

The Doctor got on his hands and knees too, following closely behind her, "But we should say hello to Sophie," he said quietly, frowning as they reached the doorway into the kitchen/living room, peeking their heads around the edge of the wall to see Craig and Sophie sitting on the sofa, "Come on," without waiting for her, he started crawling over to the sofa.

"Doctor!" she hissed after him, but he ignored her, seeming completely oblivious to the fact that Sophie and Craig were having a moment. She groaned softly to herself and hurried after him as they ducked behind the sofa. She glared at him and pointed sternly back towards the front door, trying to get the message across that they needed to leave now and not interrupt.

Of course, the Doctor being the Doctor was completely oblivious to her attempts to leave and simply popped his head up over the top of the sofa, "Hello!" he said brightly, making Craig and Sophie jump, Craig having been mid-sentence. He smiled at them, "We were just going out," he informed them as the Hatter slowly popped her head up, too, giving them an apologetic look, only just restraining herself from smacking the back of the Doctor's head.

"What?" Craig gasped, his head snapping around to stare at them.

The Hatter winced, feeling terrible for Craig. He had been so close to telling Sophie how he felt and then they just come along and ruined the moment.

"Whoops…" the Doctor looked back and forth between Craig and Sophie, realising that he probably should have just listened to the Hatter and snuck out of the front door without being seen or saying anything to them, especially going by the look on Craig's face, "Sorry, don't worry, we weren't listening".

"We were just passing through," the Hatter sighed heavily, casting the Doctor a sideways look, "Or at least _trying_ to until this one decided to develop some manners for the first time in his life," she hit the back of his head with an eye roll.

He winced, "Ow!" he yelped, quickly rubbing the back of his head, but he stopped at the glare the Time Lady sent him, practically daring him to try whining. He cleared his throat and turned back to Sophie and Craig, "Sorry, again," he said hurriedly, not wanting to get hit again.

"I thought you were going out?" Craig frowned, looking between the Time Lords.

"That was the plan," the Time Lady nodded, shrugging slightly, "But we got distracted…twice," she gave the Doctor a pointed look again.

"We were just re-connecting all the electrics, it's a real mess," the Doctor added, and he held up an ordinary screwdriver, "Where's the on-switch for this?" he questioned seriously.

Craig turned back to Sophie, trying to give her a smile, "They're really are on their way out".

"No, I don't mind, if you don't mind," Sophie replied, shaking her head at him, glancing at the Time Lords with a friendly smile, not noticing the glare Craig gave the Time Lords. She had gotten to know the Hatter a bit during the football game and while she was certainly…different, she seemed nice enough.

"I don't mind, why would I mind?" he shrugged, clearly upset as he looked back to her, trying to hide his unhappiness from her.

Sophie smiled and turned back to the Time Lords, "Then stay," she offered them, "Have a drink with us".

The Doctor hesitated, glancing at the Hatter, who didn't know what to do now. It would have been rude to refuse now that they had interrupted them and then been offered to stay with them, but at the same time it was obvious that Craig wanted them to leave. She didn't know what to do, none of her etiquette lessons as a child had involved what to do in a situation like this, nor had she had to deal with a situation like this one while living on Gallifrey before.

Seeing that the Hatter didn't know what to do, either, the Doctor turned back to Craig and Sophie, glancing between them for a moment, "What, do we have to stay now?" he asked, just wanting to be sure.

Craig closed his eyes tightly, looking as if he was only just stopping himself from shouting at them to leave, "Do you want to stay?" he questioned shortly.

"Well…" the Hatter trailed off, looking at the Doctor, completely clueless as to what they should do. It was bad enough Craig was angry and upset with them, the last thing they needed was to offend Sophie, too.

The Doctor turned back to the humans, deciding to just go with the truth, "I don't mind," he told them.

"Okay!" Sophie smiled brightly at them, looking delighted.

Craig sighed, "Great!" he exclaimed in fake, happy tone of voice.

…

The Doctor was sitting in an armchair, fiddling with the cables he had looped around his neck, trying to use the ordinary screwdriver without too much successes. The Hatter was sitting on the arm of the chair, amused as she watched him over her cup of tea, having passed on the offer from Sophie for a glass of red wine while she nibbled on a dry biscuit. She hadn't had anything to eat since that morning and had even started feel slightly sickly and light headed, something she doubted crawling around the floor would have helped very much.

"'Cos life can seem pointless," Sophie was saying to the Time Lords as she held her glass of wine, still sitting beside Craig on the sofa, who was eyeing the stain on the ceiling, "Work, weekend, work, weekend. And there's six billion people on the planet doing pretty much the same thing," she sighed, shaking her head as she took a sip of wine.

"Six billion people?" the Doctor repeated, exchanging a look with the Time Lady before he glanced back to Craig and Sophie, raising his eyebrows at them, "Watching you two work, I'm starting to wonder where they all come from?"

"What?" she frowned at him, lowering her glass as Craig's head snapped back to him, "What do you mean by that?"

"So, work!" the Hatter cut in quickly, wanting to change the subject before they went and ruined Craig's night any more than they already had. Goodness, they were starting to sound like her old companions, trying to make her see how much the Doctor was in love with her, "Craig was telling us about the call centre," she said, taking a sip of her tea. She made a slight grimace and sat it on the coffee table. She had made it far too sweet for this regeneration, though, she had been sure she had only put one teaspoon of sugar in it…, "It doesn't sound like you really enjoy working there," she went on, taking a bite from the biscuit, trying to get rid of the taste of overly sweet tea, "What is it that you really want to do? What job makes you excited?"

She smiled, glancing briefly at Craig before turning back to them, "Don't laugh," she said, her eyes lighting up, "I only ever told Craig about it. I want to work looking after animals. Maybe abroad?" she admitted, heisting slightly but it was quickly replaced with an excited expression, "I saw this orangutan sanctuary on telly".

The Doctor looked up from the cable he was tinkering with, "Well, what's stopping you?" he asked causally.

"She can't," Craig commented before Sophie had a chance to answer, looking at her, "You need loads of qualifications".

"Yeah, true," Sophie nodded, sighing slightly as she turned back to the Time Lords, "Plus, it's scary, everyone I know lives round here. Craig got offered a job in London, better money, didn't take it," she shook her head, sitting her wine glass down on the coffee table.

"What's wrong with staying here? I can't see the point of London".

"Blimey," the Hatter muttered to the Doctor, eyeing Craig slightly with an incredulous expression, unable to quite comprehend the idea that someone could be so happy to stay in one place all the time, "And here I thought the Time Lords didn't have an adventures bone in their bodies. Even my Mother enjoyed visiting Arcadia, and she was the least adventures woman I have ever meet".

The Doctor coughed slightly, struggling not to laugh, agreeing with her, "Well, perhaps that's you, then," he remarked, turning back to Craig, who was completely oblivious to what the Time Lady had said. He glanced at Sophie, an idea popping into his head, "Perhaps you'll just have to stay here, secure and a little bit miserable until the day you drop," he said nonchalantly, shrugging, "Better than trying and failing, eh?"

Sophie frowned at him, looking taken aback and almost offended, "You think I'd fail?"

The Time Lady struggled to hold back her smile, choosing instead to take another bite of her biscuit, seeing what the Doctor was trying to do. It was quite clever and she couldn't help feeling slightly impressed by his quick thinking. She was almost surprised that she hadn't thought of it before herself.

"Everybody's got dreams, Sophie," he continued in the same tone, picking his wine glass up from the coffee table, pointing it in Sophie's direction. The brunet gave it a wary look as the wine sloshed in the glass, "Very few are going to archive them, so why pretend?" he lifted the glass to his mouth and took a mouthful, quickly grimacing in disgust, spitting it back into the glass.

"Not a fan of wine, sweetheart?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, amused, while Craig and Sophie stared at him, both cringing. She broke off a piece of the biscuit, handing it to him.

"Apparently not," he sighed slightly, making a mental note to stay away from wine in future. It was all bitter, he couldn't understand how people could drink it. He took the biscuit and quickly popped it into his mouth, "Thank you, dear," he said, quickly chewing and swallowing as he turned back to Sophie and Craig, "Perhaps, in the whole Universe, a call centre is where you should be?" he shrugged at them again.

"Why are you saying that?" Sophie demanded angrily, "That's horrible".

"Is it true?"

"Of course it's not true!" she snapped at him, "I'm not staying in a call centre all my life, I can do anything I want!" the Doctor smiled at her as the Hatter gave the woman a wink, both watching as realisation spread across her face as it dawned on her, "Oh!" she gasped, laughing, "Yeah! Right!" she fist bumped with the Doctor and high fived the Hatter, before glancing at Craig, "Oh, my God! Did you see what he just did?"

"No, what's happening?" Craig leaned towards her, shaking his head, looking very confused, "Are you going to live with monkeys now?"

"The world is at your fingertips, Sophie, if only you want it," the Hatter smiled broadly at her, "And believe me, it's bigger than even you know," she winked at her, "You just have to figure out what's holding you back first?" her eyes flickered briefly to Craig, curious to see just what her reaction would be.

Everyone had something holding them back, for her it had been her children. She refused to leave Gallifrey until she had seen each of her four children leave the Academy, and even then she had still struggled with the idea of leaving, despite her divorce putting a great strain on her relationship with them. She knew that the Doctor had been the same, only he had put off leaving Gallifrey until he had been unable to stand staying another moment longer, but she knew that it had caused him a great deal of guilt knowing that he was leaving her behind. She hadn't blamed him, in fact she had encouraged him to leave, having hated to see how miserable he was and while she had missed him terribly during those years without him, it had helped her greatly to know that he and Susan where out there, seeing the Universe, even if she wasn't with them.

Sophie's smile faded and she looked away from the Time Lords, almost as if she was trying to avoid their gaze, "I don't know," she said quietly, shrugging slightly, wringing her hands absently, "Dunno".

"Just remember who or what you might be leaving behind," the Doctor commented, taking the Hatter's hand, kissing her cheek quickly.

Sophie blinked slightly and her head snapped back around to look at them, a blush crossing her face.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter returned to their bedroom while Craig walked Sophie to the front door, saying goodnight to each other. The Time Lords moved closer to the large device that they had built sitting in the middle of the bedframe and started to spin it around, ducking carefully to avoid being hit by the ends of broomsticks and oars that was protruding from the mess of junk around the side of the device.

"It's a little wobbly," the Time Lady sighed slightly as she eyed the device wobble slightly on the bedframe, managing to duck before she was hit in the face by an oar as it spun toward her. Sadly, her hat wasn't so luck and it ended up being knocked onto the floor, "We should have added a few clamps," she went on, picking her hat back up and sitting it onto her head.

"To late for that now," the Doctor replied, smiling brightly, completely unconcerned as he easily ducked the end of a broomstick. He reached into the mess of junk and hit a button on an old radio sitting in the middle of the device, causing blue lights to light up, "Right!" he grabbed one of the poles, spinning it around as they activated their earpieces, "Shield's up. Let's scan!"

"What are you getting?" Amy asked after a moment over the link.

The Hatter stepped back from the device, glancing over to where they had hooked a digital clock up on top of a walking frame a short distance away, reading the flashing red numbers, "Ooh…interesting," she said, eyeing the clock with narrowed eyes, looking back over to the Doctor, "It says that there's no traces of high technology upstairs. Complete and utterly normal".

The Doctor frowned, looking confused and frustrated as he glanced at the clock, too, "No, no, no, no, it can't be!" he exclaimed, shaking his head, spinning back around to the device, ducking the end of an oar, "It's _too_ normal!"

"Indeed," the Time Lady agreed, her eyes still narrowed as she turned back around to face the device, "Unsettlingly so".

Amy sighed loudly over the link, "Only for you two could too normal be a problem," she remarked warily, "You said I could be lost forever. Just go upstairs".

"And end up killing ourselves and possibly other innocents?" the brunet retorted, raising an eyebrow despite Amy not being able to see it. She sighed heavily, shaking her head as she meet the Doctor's eyes, "We can't, Amy, it's simply too dangerous. We know it's frightening and frustrating for you, but this really is the safest thing that we can do, not just for everyone else, but for _you_ too. Who else will save you if something happens to us?" she finished, trying to make her understand that not rushing upstairs would also help her in the end, even if it might seem like it now.

"If we could just get a look in there…" the Doctor muttered thoughtfully, before he suddenly grabbed the end of one of the oars, making the spinning stop, "Hold on…" he said slowly, looking back to the Hatter, an idea popping into his head, "Use the data bank, get us the plans of this building," he instructed Amy, and the Hatter broke into a grin, realising what he had in mind, "Its history," he continued, returning the smile with a touch of smugness, "The layout, everything. Meanwhile, we shall recruit a spy".

And with that, they ended the link and set to work trying to track down that cat they had noticed lurking around in the street the night before, hopefully, it would be able to give them everything they needed to know about just what was going on up there.

….

It was early in the morning the next day and the Hatter had managed to convince the Doctor that they should try to do something to apologise for interrupting Craig and Sophie the night before, still having felt quite guilty about the whole mess. She just hoped that Craig was more of a morning person then she usually was and wouldn't end up getting even more annoyed with them.

The Doctor was carrying a tray covered in breakfast food and tea a he and the Time Lady headed down the hall towards Craig's closed bedroom door, pausing as they came to stop before it. The brunet raised her hand and knocked on the wooden door, deciding that it would probably be better not to simply go budging in, lest they have another thing to add to the list of things that they had done to upset the man.

"Rise and shine, Craig!" she called brightly through the door, pausing for a moment to listen for any sound of movement, but when none came, she tried again, "Craig?" she knocked on the door once more, this time a bit harder.

"We made you breakfast!" the Doctor added cheerfully, lightly hitting the side of the tray against the door, almost causing the empty tea cup to topple off. The Hatter sighed slightly, amused, and wondered, not for the first time that morning, whether she ought to have carried the tray instead, "It's normal," he said, shrugging slightly.

They waited for a moment for a response, but nothing came. The Hatter frowned, feeling slightly worried as she pressed her ear against the door, trying to hear, "Craig, is everything alright?" she asked, glancing at the Doctor, who was also growing concerned at the lack of response. She straitened and grabbed the doorhandle, slowly turning it, "Craig, we're coming in now," she told him, and pushed the door open, only for their eyes to widen in alarm as they found Craig lying on his side in bed, unmoving, "Craig!"

The Time Lords dashed into the room, the Doctor quickly sitting the tray on the end of the bed as they moved around to the left side of the bed to find a very pale and slightly sweaty faced Craig, unconscious. The Time Lady grabbed his wrist, checking his pulse, groaning loudly as she found it to be far slower than it should have been.

"Craig, we told you not to touch it!" the Doctor grumbled loudly, helping the Hatter to roll Craig further onto his back, grabbing his arm from beneath the covers to find a long, grey line running along the inside of his forearm from his palm, "What's that?" he said sarcastically as they closely examined the mark, "An unfamiliar and obviously poisonous substance".

"Really, sweetheart?" the Hatter sighed warily, casting him a quick look as she checked Craig's eyes carefully, "I don't think ranting sarcastically at him is _really_ going to help the situation".

The Doctor, on the other hand, hadn't quite finished, "'…Oh, I know what would be really clever, I'll stick my hand in it!'" he continued in the same tone, seeming completely oblivious to what the brunet had said.

She rolled her eyes at him, but her eyes widened in horror as she focused back down on Craig, "Doctor, he's not breathing!" she shouted urgently, seeing as he was closest to Craig's chest.

He quickly raised his hands into a fist, holding them above his head, "Come on, Craig, breathe!" he called, bringing his hands back down hard onto Craig's chest, right over his heart, making the man gasp, "Oh, come on, Craig, breath!" he grinned as Craig's eyes rolled back into his head, "Thems are healthy foorballer's lungs!"

"We need to reverse the enzyme decay," the Hatter said hurriedly to the Doctor, knowing that Craig was running on borrowed time now. He could stop breathing again any moment and if that happened, she wasn't liking the odds on them being able to get him back again, "You do it, I'll stay with him," she instructed him, not taking her eyes on Craig. He nodded and leaped onto his feet, grabbing the teapot off the tray, leaving the lid behind as he ran back out through the door and off down the hall to the kitchen. She placed a hand over Craig's forehead, "Just hang on, Craig," she murmured to him, hoping he could at least hear her, "The Doctor's going to make a special…ah, let's call it a tea to reverse enzyme decay and excite the tannin molecules," she smiled softly, "You're going to be perfectly fine".

The Doctor ran back into the room as he stirred the contents of the teapot with a wooden spoon. He hurried back over to her side and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully putting the end of the spout into Craig's mouth, making him drink the brown liquid before carefully drawing it away from his mouth and sitting the pot back down on Craig's chest, lightly hitting the spoon against the edge of the pots rim.

Craig's eyes flickered open, looking up at them blearily and half closed. He looked terrible, but at least he was awake now, "I've got to go to work," he tried to tell them, his voice hoarse and weak.

"Not a chance," the Time Lady said sternly, pushing his hair gently off his forehead, "You must rest, Craig. You're body needs you to stay home, tucked up nice and warmly in bed, sleeping".

The Doctor raised the pot once more, sitting the spoon of the bedside table, "One more," he commented, tipping the pot back into his mouth.

Craig sighed and swallowed the liquid, grimacing as he tried to pull away from the pot, making a dribble of the liquid run down his chin, "It's the planning meeting," he tried to argue weakly, looking back up to them, "It's important".

" _You're_ important," the Hatter cut across him, "There will be other meetings, but there is only one you, so you had better take care of yourself, yes?" she raised her eyebrows at him, practically daring him to try and say otherwise.

The Doctor's mouth twitched, amused as he glanced at her beside him. If only she took her own advice, she might not have crashed into his TARDIS during her Third body and almost died from the Gallifreyan Flu. He shook his head and turned back to Craig, "Don't argue with her when she's in her Mother mode, she can be quite scary and inventive," he advised him, amused as the Hatter gave him a quick look, "You're going to be fine, Craig," he assured him, giving him a small, comforting smile.

They watched over Craig as his eyes slowly closed and his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. Once they were sure that was sleeping and that they had done all that they could for him, they quietly stood, the Doctor taking the Hatter's hand, and slipped out of the room, closing the door gently behind them.

"Mother mode?" the Time Lady whispered to him, raising her eyebrows.

He grinned at her, "Well, you do tend to slip into the mothering role when someone gets hurt or frightened," he replied, shrugging. He had always been rather fond of that side of her, though, he did wish that it didn't make an appearance as often as it did during their adventures that were supposed to be fun, but more often than not turned out to be running for their lives and trying to save people.

"I hadn't realised you had actually come up with a name for it," she said dryly, but she looked far more amused then annoyed.

"I did think about calling it mother hen mode, but that just made me think of chickens, which then made me think of that time in 1969".

She cringed, recalling all the chicken feathers and blood that she and Martha had walked into their tiny flat to find. Martha still wouldn't eat chicken after that, "Ah, yes," she nodded slowly, "Not exactly a nice memory".

He nodded along with her, wincing at the very unpleasant memory, before giving himself a sharp shake as he glanced back at Craig's closed bedroom door, "We should do something to help him," he remarked, his eyes lighting up, "We could go to that meeting!"

"I agree with you, but I thought you hated meetings? Not to mention paper work, which, I'm quite sure there will be at a call centre, sweetheart".

The Doctor's expression didn't falter as he simply shrugged, looking completely unconcerned about the idea. It wasn't as if they would actually do any of the paper work, he just wanted to find Craig's desk and sit behind it, maybe chat around the water cooler…that's what office people did, didn't they?

The Hatter laughed slightly, shaking her head at him. This was either going to be a complete disaster or it was actually going to turn out wonderful. She did have to admit, she was mildly curious to see for herself just what exactly went on in places like that, "Well, if it helps Craig, I'm all for it," she said cheerfully, "Let's go and find just where this call centre is located, shall we?"

…...

As it turned out, the Time Lords actually found the call centre to be brilliant. It hadn't taken them long before they managed to find Craig's briefcase with his plans for the meeting and convince Craig's boss to let them present the meeting in his stead, and, much to the Time Lords and Craig's boss's delight, it was a huge successes. They happily made themselves at home at Craig's desk, both Time Lords seeming to take to the whole thing very quickly as they answered calls, playing off each other with their usual banter that the callers seemed to find highly entertaining. Even the boss had taken a liking to them, seeming to think that they were geniuses as he hovered around Craig's desk, listening to them talk to the callers with a wide smile on his face, while the other officer workers found them amusing while they had all had lunch together.

"Oh, afternoon," the boss said to someone, a hint of sarcasm in his tone, while the Time Lords were busy fiddling with wires beneath their desk as they listened to a caller in their head sets, having managed to connect both their sets to the same phone line.

Footsteps approached the desk, "I'm so sorry, Michael, I don't know what happened," Craig's voice reached them, sounding slightly breathless, as if he had been running, "I've got not excuse…"

The Time Lords both popped up from beneath the desk to see Michael and Craig standing before them, "I think that's not what our screen is telling us, Mr Lang," the Doctor said into his headset, breaking into a broad smile as he caught sight of Craig, ignoring the man's angry shouting on the other end of the call.

Craig's eyes widened in confusion as he looked over to them, "What are they doing here?" he demanded, staring at them as he moved closer to the desk, "What are you _doing_ here?"

"My, my, my," the Hatter shook her head, speaking into her head set, not impressed with the man's shouting on the other end, "There's no need for that, sir," she said sharply.

The Doctor nodded along with her, "If that's your attitude, Mr Lang, please take your custom elsewhere," he added, blowing a raspberry into the set, high fiving with the Time Lady.

"No, no, no!" Craig cried, his eyes widening even more in horror, while Michael smiled at the Time Lords, nodding approvingly at them, "That's one of my best clients!"

The Time Lady waved him off, completely unconcerned, simply grateful to no longer have to listen to the man shouting on the other end of the line now, "Oh, you'll have other, much politer clients, I'm sure," she said, pretending not to notice the look on Craig's face. She fixed him with a quick, searching look, "On to more important matters, how are you feeling, Craig?"

"We had some time to kill," the Doctor cut in before Craig had time to reply, shrugging slightly as he glanced at the brunet, "We were curious, never worked in an office…" he broke into a smile, "Never worked anywhere".

"Not entirely true," the Hatter muttered, more to herself then to the others. They really didn't need to know about their time with Unit, nor about her years spent working reluctantly with the High Council and as an engineer.

Craig stared at them, "You're insane!" he gaped at them, unable to believe what was happening.

"Leave off the Doctor and Hatter," Michael told him, smiling at the Time Lords, ignoring Craig's outraged expression, "I love them. They were brilliant in the planning meeting".

His head snapped back over to the Time Lords, "You went to the planning meeting?" he shouted, not noticing Sophie join them, managing to hold two cups of tea and a plate of biscuits.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded, not entirely sure why Craig seemed so upset about it. They had been doing him a favour, after all, "We were your representatives," he shrugged once more, "We don't need Mr Lang any more. Rude Mr Lang".

Sophie moved closer to the desk, giving the Time Lords a bright smile, "Here you go," she announced, carefully handing them their tea, making Craig blink at her in surprise, "And I found some custard creams," she added happily, handing the plate to the Doctor.

His eyes lit up in delight as he eagerly took the plate, "Sophie, my hero," he grinned at her excitedly, holding the plate out towards the Hatter, "Biscuit, dear?"

"Not for me, sweetheart," the Hatter shook her head, casting the plate a quick look. She was feeling slightly sickly again and besides, sweet biscuits really weren't her thing anymore. She much preferred dry biscuits with cheese for a snack now.

The Doctor eyed her slightly for a moment, taking a biscuit and sitting the plate back down. She was looking paler again and had only picked at her lunch earlier, claiming that she didn't feel like eating. He suspected that it was all the time distortions were having a poor effect to her already sensitive sensors, though, that didn't stop him from feeling concerned.

"Hi, Craig," Sophie, still smiling, turned to Craig, "I went to the web, applied for a wildlife charity thing. They said I could start as a volunteer straight away," a slightly worried look crossed her face as Craig started looking around, distracted, "Should I do it?" she asked him.

"Yeah, great," Craig said, looking back to the Time Lords, waving her off, "Yeah, good, go for it".

"You still look very pale," the Time Lady commented to Craig, frowning at him in concern, "You need to go home and rest in your own bed," she gave him a stern look.

The Doctor focused on the keyboard in front of and started typing away, "Who next?" he glanced at the screen to see who the next caller was, "Oh, yes…" Sophie walked away, while Craig looked to Michael, who waved him away, leaving the man with no choice but to reluctantly leave, throwing them a frustrated expression over his shoulder, "Hello, Mr Joergensen," he called over his headset, "Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit".

The Time Lords watched as Craig left, the Doctor chewing his biscuit as they glanced over to Sophie, who glanced back towards the door with a slightly sad expression. They sighed and exchanged a look, getting back to their work.

…

The Doctor and the Hatter arrived back to the flat and stepped inside the entrance hall. The call centre hadn't quite been as fun anymore after Craig had left and on their way back to the flat they had tried to think of a way to make it up to him. As they entered the room, they spotted the cat that they had recruited as their spy slinking back down stairs from the upper level, meowing loudly as it caught sight of them.

"Ooh, hello," the Time Lady smiled softly at the small, very fluffy creature, stepping towards it. She couldn't understand cat, at least not it's meowing, using telepathy on it was slightly different, but she could tell from its meow that it definitely had something it wanted to say, "Have you got something to tell us?"

"Have you been upstairs?" the Doctor asked it, sticking his hands inside his pockets, listening closely as the cat gave another meow, "Yes?" he nodded slowly, and the cat meowed deeply in reply.

They moved to sit on the step and the Hatter picked up the cat, settling it in her lap, lightly patting its fluffy back. She was mildly surprised that it allowed her to hold it, let alone stayed in her lap without trying to claw at her.

"You can do it," the Doctor tried to encourage the cat softly, reaching forward to pat its head, "Show us what's up there? What's behind that door? Try to show us…" both Time Lords frowned slightly as vague images began flickering through the minds, all taken from close to the ground as a large, dimly lit room with some sort of glowing light began to take shape within their minds. He sighed, frustrated, "Ooh, that doesn't make sense!" he complained, shaking his head, exchanging a look with the Hatter.

"What about people?" the Hatter questioned the cat, scratching behind its ear.

The cat meowed and the Doctor nodded, "Lots of people?" he asked, and images of several different people flickered through their minds, including a young man, a middle aged woman, and a young woman, "Good, good. What kind of people?" the cat meowed again, "People who never came back down," he murmured worriedly, his eyes snapping back up to meet with the Hatter, who looked very troubled at the information, "That's very bad," he sighed, just as their flat's door opened and Craig stepped out, making them both look at him, "Oh, hello!" he said brightly.

The cat meowed loudly and leaped off the Hatter's lap, digging its claws into her legs briefly, making her wince as it took off up the stairs. Ah, yes, she remembered now why she had usually been a dog person, less chances of getting clawed, "Hi, Craig!" she gave him a small wave and a smile.

"I can't take this anymore," Craig told them, shaking his head with a hard expression on his face, "I want you to go, _both_ of you!" he turned and stormed back inside the flat. The Time Lords jumped to their feet and hurried after him, closing the door behind them as Craig snatched the paper bag full of money off the table by the door, holding it out to them, "You can have this back an' all," he snapped at them.

The Doctor grabbed the bag, looking very confused, "What have we done?"

"For a start, talking to a cat…"

"What's wrong with that?" the Hatter cut across him, frowning slightly as she glanced at the Doctor, shaking her head at him as he threw the bag over his shoulder, sending money flying everywhere behind them, "People talk to animals all the time," she shrugged, looking back to Craig, who was steadily getting more upset, "It's nice and relaxing, you ought to try it someday".

"Everybody loves you!" Craig exclaimed, waving his hand around at them, "You're better at football than me, and my job…" he pointed at the Doctor, making him even more confused, "And now Sophie's all, 'ooh, monkeys, monkeys!' And then…" he spun around and marched over to their bedroom door, pushing it open, "There's that!"

The Time Lords ran forward and into the doorway, but it was too late to try blocking Craig's view of the large, spinning device in the middle of the room, "It's art!" the Doctor lied hurriedly, holding out an arm towards it, thinking quickly, "A statement on modern society, 'ooh, ain't modern society awful?'"

"The names a work in progress," the Time Lady added quickly, moving over to the device, grabbing one of the oars, stopping it from spinning.

Craig shook his head at them, moving further into the room, "Me and you two, it's not going to work," he said, sounding on the verge of having a complete brake down, gesturing widely between himself and the Time Lords, "You've been here three days, the three weirdest days of my life!"

"Your days will get a lot weirder if we go," the Doctor tried to tell him, looking at him seriously.

"I thought it was good weird, but it's not, its bad weird! I can't do this anymore!"

"Craig, we can't leave this place, we're like you," he said quickly, trying desperately to make Craig see reason, glancing hurriedly at the Hatter, "We can't see the point of anywhere else," he went on, "Madrid, hah, what a dump! We have to _stay_ ".

"No, you don't, you have to leave!"

"Please, Craig," the Hatter stepped towards him, keeping her voice calm and steady, not wishing to distress the man more then he already was, "You don't understand, we can't just go. There's more going on here then you know, you just have to trust us…"

"Just get out!" Craig finally snapped, and tried to push the Doctor away roughly, but the Doctor managed to grab hold of his lapels.

"Right!" the Doctor sighed heavily, holding Craig's lapels tightly, ignoring the man's startled expression, "Only way!"

"Oh, this is going to be painful," the Time Lady muttered, already wincing as she realised just what the Doctor was planning to do. She took a step back, giving the men some space as she watched warily.

He sighed again, wishing it hadn't come to this rather extreme method of explaining things, "I'm going to show you something, but shh, _really_ , shh!" he told Craig, shaking him slightly in attempt to make him see just how serious he was, "Oh, I am going to regret this," he groaned slightly, trying to prepare himself, "Okay, right…first, general background!" and with that, he head-butted Craig.

Both men cried out in pain, reeling back, grabbing at their foreheads. The Hatter dashed forward and wrapped her arms around the Doctor, half supporting him, sending Craig an apologetic look that she doubted he could actually see as his mind was suddenly swapped with information transferred into his mind by the Doctor. She really didn't envy Craig right now.

Craig gasped loudly, his eyes widening as he straightened, staring at the Time Lords in a completely new light, "You're…" he exclaimed, pointing at them.

"Quite so," the Hatter smiled at him, pressing a gentle hand to the Doctor's forehead, feeling a small bump already starting to rise. Wonderful, now she got to listen to the Doctor whining about having a bump on his head. Perhaps she ought to have down the transfer instead. At least she knew she wouldn't whine about it for the next few days.

"From…" he breathed, pointing upwards.

"Shh…" both Time Lords tried shushing him as the Doctor straightened, holding a finger to his mouth.

"You've got a TARDIS!"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded hurriedly, stepping closer to Craig, who covered his mouth in shock, "Shh!" he motioned to his face, gesturing with his other hand to the Hatter, "Eleventh bodies! Right…" he grabbed Craig's lapels again, "Okay, specific detail!"

The Hatter winced as she watched them head-butt again, both reeling back in pain, yelping loudly as they grabbed at their foreheads as more information was transferred, this time with more detail about how they had ended up there and why, "Blimey," she shook her head, moving back to the Doctor's side, feeling strangely amused by the odd scene, even for her, happening before her.

Craig whirled back around, his eyes still wide with realisation as he pointed at them, "You…you saw my ad in the paper shop window," he gasped, waving the finger around at them in his excitement.

"Yep, and with this," the brunet confirmed, nodding at him as the Doctor grabbed the note that they had found off the chest of drawers, holding it up for Craig to read the writing, "Which is rather curious, since Amy hasn't actually written it yet".

"Time travel, it _can_ happen," the Doctor remarked, glancing at Amy's name written on the back of the note.

Craig pointed widely at the device sitting in the middle of the bedframe, "That's a scanner!" he exclaimed, unable to contain himself, "You used non-technologically technology of Lammasteen".

The Doctor quickly clapped his hand over Craig's mouth as the Hatter's eyes widened in alarm, casting a worried look up at the ceiling, "Shut up!" he shouted, exchanging a look with the Time Lady as he sighed heavily, releasing Craig, grabbing at his head, "Argh!" he groaned loudly, sitting on the what was left of the end of the bedframe, rubbing his eye, "I am never, ever doing that ever, ever again…" he looked at the Time Lady, "Stop me next time, dear".

"Borusa would certainly of given you a low score," the Hatter commented seriously, shrugging, "Personally, I would have given you an A minus, your method could use a little bit of work".

He blinked at her, opening and closing his mouth for a moment, "Are you…grading me?"

"Of course not. I was never one of your professors, though I did tutor and help you with your homework quite often during our school years. No, if you had been my pupil you would have spent most of your time in detention, I wouldn't have allowed you to get away with the half the things you did if you had been a pupil of mine".

He couldn't help staring at her for a moment, strangely taken with the idea…but he quickly gave himself a sharp shake. It really wasn't the time to start thinking to deeply about _that_ right now, not when they had more important things to be doing then letting their imaginations get the better of them. He cleared his throat and activated his earpiece, "Amy!" he called over the link.

"That's Amy Pond!" Craig gasped, slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Oh, of course, you can understand us now," he sighed slightly sarcastically, glancing over to Craig, "Hurrah".

The Hatter shook her head, amused, and activated her own earpiece, "Hello, Amy, have you managed to get those plans yet?" she asked hopefully.

"Still searching for them!" Amy called back.

"We've worked it out from psychic help from a cat," the Doctor informed her, as if it happened all the time.

"A cat?"

"Long story," the Hatter sighed slightly, shaking her head as she glanced at the Doctor as Craig ran a hand down his face, "It's really not important right now, but what _is_ important is that there's a time engine in the flat upstairs, which is a very, _very_ not good thing".

"He's using innocent people to try and launch it," the Doctor added, "Whenever he does, they get burned up, hence the stain…"

"From the ceiling?" Craig gasped, waving a hand around up towards the ceiling, his eyes wide.

"Well done, Craig," he nodded to him before clasping his hands together, exchanging a quick, concerned look with the Time Lady, "And you, Miss Pond, nearly get thrown off into the Vortex".

"Lovely!" Amy muttered sarcastically.

A loud crash came from the flat above them, sounding like glass shattering, drawing their attention up to the ceiling.

"People are dying up there?" Craig cried, before he was caught in another time loop. The Time Lords slowly looked at him, their eyes widening in horror as they realised that it was happening again, and judging from the wave of nausea that crashed over the Hatter, making her grab the Doctor's arm, it was going to be worse than they had experienced yet, "People are dying up there! People are dying…"

"Amy!" the Doctor shouted worriedly, casting a quick look at the Hatter, really not liking how sickly pale she seemed to have grown in only a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, Amy's scream came over the link.

Craig gave himself a hard shake, "They're being killed!" he managed to snap out of the loop, looking quickly to the Time Lords.

"They've managed to lure another person," the Hatter breathed, swallowing hard as the sickly feeling passed. She grabbed the Doctor's hand and started to run out of the room, Craig quickly following behind them as they ran out of the bedroom and through the living room/kitchen area, throwing the flat's door open as they reached it, making a dash up the stairs.

"Doctor!" Amy called over the link, sounding as if she was struggling with something on the other end, "Hatter! Hang on!"

The Time Lords ignored her, needing to focus on getting upstairs to try and help whoever the poor person now trapped up there was. The Doctor paused, noticing that Craig had stopped behind them, staring back at the open flat's door, "Craig, come on…" his voice trailed off slightly as he noticed Sophie's keys still in the lock, "…someone's dying up there".

The Hatter's eyes widened, looking back to see the keys and Craig's pale face staring at them, realising what must have happened, "No…" she gasped, horrified.

"It's Sophie," Craig said weakly before he pulled her eyes away from the keys, running back up the stairs after the Time Lords, his voice growing louder and stronger, "It's Sophie that's dying up there, it's Sophie!" he shouted frantically.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Amy called loudly, "Stop!"

The Time Lords reached the door at the top of the stairs, pausing at her voice. Craig looked hurriedly from the door to the Time Lords, his eyes wide with desperation, "Where's Sophie?" he demanded.

"Wait, wait!" the Doctor tried to hush him, trying to listen closely to the other end of the link, "Amy?"

"Are you upstairs?" Amy asked quickly.

"We're just about to go inside the flat," the Hatter replied, glancing at the Doctor.

"But you _can't_ be upstairs!"

The Time Lords frowned, confused, "Of course we can be upstairs!" the Doctor argued.

"Come on!" Craig urged frantically.

"No!" Amy shouted back to them, "I've got the plans, you cannot be upstairs, it's a one-storey building!" the three of them look at each other, realisation dawning on the Time Lords faces, "There is no upstairs!"

They glanced back down the stairs, almost as if to check that they really where there before the Doctor gave himself a shake, and hurriedly pulled his sonic out of his pocket, flashing it at the lock. The door unlocked and he grasped the doorhandle, pushing it open as they stepped forward, only to stop short at the sight before them.

"What?" Craig exclaimed, frowning deeply.

In the middle of the very large, mostly empty room was a set of four control panels that where set up similar to the TARDIS console in the centre of the room with a glowing orb sitting in the middle of each panel with what looked like a Time Rotor in the middle of the panels, and surrounding the device was six large claw-like supports around it. Sophie was nowhere in sight.

"Blimey," the Hatter muttered, slightly unnerved by just how much the machine in front of her reminded her of the TARDIS, which really wasn't surprising, considering both machines worked very much the same way. Even still, she really didn't like comparing the two.

"What?" the Doctor frowned, glancing at Craig before turning back to eye the machine, "Oh…" he gasped, realisation crossing his face, "Oh, of course!" he began to walk further into the room, the Hatter and Craig following behind him, "The time engine isn't _in_ the flat, the time engine _is_ the flat! Someone's attempt to build a TARDIS".

"It's almost impressive how far they managed to come," the brunet remarked thoughtfully, casting her eyes over the time engine. She paused, glancing at the Doctor and Craig, "I mean, obviously the little issue with the innocent people being killed is a rather big technical problem that needs to be worked out, but aside from that, it's pretty well made," they both looked at her strangely, making her wince, "I didn't say I approved, just that I was impressed with the skill and work behind it," she said quickly, realising how that might have sounded.

Craig frowned slightly, looking around the room, "No, there's always been an upstairs," he shook his head, unable to understand how it could be possible that there wasn't really an upstairs.

"Has there?" the Doctor asked him, raising an eyebrow, "Think about it".

"Yes!" he said at once, before hesitating, "No. I don't know…" he shook his head again.

"It's called a Perception Filter," the Hatter told him, giving him a sympathetic look, knowing how confusing it probably was to him, "It's more complicated than just a disguise, it works on your very memories, tricking them to suit the need".

A woman's scream cut through the room, sounding terrified as they turned to see Sophie being pulled out of one of the dark corners of the room towards the controls, her arm outstretched as a current of electricity crackled from one of the glowing orbs and back to her open palm, forcefully dragging her towards the panel, like a rope.

"Sophie!" Craig cried, running to her side with the Time Lords hurrying behind him, "Sophie! Oh, my God, Sophie!" he reached her side and grabbed her outreached wrist, putting an arm around her waist, trying to pull her back against the energy, but it was useless.

"Craig!" the Doctor called to him, "It's controlling her. It's willing her to touch the activator," he and the Hatter reached Sophie's other side, the Time Lady putting her arm around the woman's back, trying to pull her back as the Doctor grabbed Sophie's hand.

"It's not going to have her!" he shouted, still trying to pull Sophie back.

Sophie's hand fell onto the glowing orb and she screamed out in pain as the glowing and electricity grew stronger. The Hatter winced, desperately trying to think of something to help her, but there was nothing that she could think of.

The Doctor quickly flashed his sonic at the orb, trying to get it to release Sophie's hand, "Ah!" he growled in frustration as smoke began to drift up from the device, "Deadlock seal!"

"You've got to do something!"

"We're trying!" the Hatter said loudly, trying to comfort Sophie now that it seemed useless trying to pull her off the device.

Suddenly, the device let her go and she fall back onto the floor, knocking the Hatter over along with her, who winced as her back impacted the floor with Sophie's weight on her. Craig and the Doctor hurried over to them, Craig pulled Sophie, who was unconscious, off the Time Lady, cradling her in his arms, while the Doctor helped the Hatter back onto her feet.

"I don't understand," the brunet frowned, confused as she rubbed her back, casting a suspicious look back over to the time engine, "Why did it just let her go like that?" she looked back to the Doctor, who looked just as confused as she did.

"It doesn't make sense," the Doctor agreed, just as a hologram of an old man appeared in the middle of the room, his face hidden by shadows. The Time Lords quickly focused their attention onto the hologram.

"You will help me," it said.

"Right!" he said brightly, thinking quickly, "Stop! Crashed ship, let's see. Hello, I'm Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue…"

"This isn't the time for your ego to run rampant, sweetheart," the Hatter sighed, rolling her eyes at him fondly, trying hard not to look too amused.

He gave her a sheepish look, the corner of his mouth twitching before he cleared his throat, turning back to the hologram, "Please state the nature of your emergency," he told it.

"The ship has crashed," the hologram responded, "The crew are dead. A pilot is required".

"It's the emergency crash program," the Time Lady remarked, eyeing the hologram thoughtfully, "And it's been luring all of those innocent people up here, trying to find a pilot".

The Doctor aimed his sonic at the hologram, a dark look crossing his face as he activated the sonic. The hologram began to change, showing an image of a little girl in a pink party dress and braids before changing to another image, one of a younger man, and back again to the old man.

"You will help me," the hologram chanted, using several different voices in unison, "You will help me, you will help me".

"Craig!" Sophie gasped as she woke up, her eyes wide as she stared around in confusion, apparently not remembering what had happened, "Where am I?"

"Hush!" the Doctor silenced her, too busy trying to work out exactly what was going on to be polite. Even the Hatter couldn't argue with that after so many people had already lost their lives to this device. He turned back to the hologram, narrowing his eyes, "Human brains aren't strong enough, they just burn, but you're stupid, aren't you?" he glared at the hologram, "You just _keep_ trying".

"Seventeen people have been tried," the hologram replied, "Six billion, four hundred thousand, and twenty six remain".

The Hatter blinked, "Blimey…" she breathed, shaking her head. That was the problem with computers, once their programing was set on something, they wouldn't stop until they had accomplished their goal.

Craig helped Sophie to stand as they both stared at the hologram, "Seriously, what is going on?" Sophie questioned, looking frightened and very confused.

"Oh, for goodness sake," the Doctor sighed in exasperation, looking over to her. The Hatter shoot him a quick, slightly scolding look, "The top floor of Craig's building is in reality an alien space ship intent on slaughtering the population of this planet," he explained to her bluntly, talking quickly, "Any questions?" he didn't pause to even draw breathe before continuing, "No? Good".

"Oh, honestly, Doctor," the Time Lady muttered, nudging his side sharply, giving him a look.

"Yes, I have questions!" Sophie exclaimed, frowning deeply at him as Craig tried to calm her, seeing that she was starting to grow distressed.

"The correct pilot has now been found," the hologram announced, looking directly at the Time Lords.

The Doctor grimaced slightly, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "Yes, I was worried you'd say that," he said to the hologram.

"Who is he talking about?" Amy called over the earpiece, "Doctor? Hatter?"

"Well, it could be either of us, really," the Hatter sighed deeply, shifting on the spot, trying to prepare herself for what might happen next, whether the machine chose her or the Doctor, but she suspected that it might choose the Doctor, given the fact that the machine had had more contact with him then with her.

Energy shot out from the orb nearest to the Time Lords and hit the Doctor's chest, starting to pull him towards the control panel as he struggled against the pull. The Hatter darted forward, trying to help him fight against the pull by grabbing his arm, but once again, just as it had been with Sophie, it was useless and only ended up making her be dragged along with him, her shoes managing to slip across the floor, even with the rubber soles.

"The correct pilot has been found," the hologram repeated, "The correct pilot has been found".

"Here we go," the Doctor groaned, trying to fight against the pull.

"What's happening?" Amy asked worriedly.

"It's got a hold of the Doctor!" the Hatter called back to her, desperately trying to help him resist, "It's pulling him in to be the new pilot!"

"Could he do it? Could he fly the ship safely?"

"I'm afraid not," she shook her head, scrunching her face up with the effort as the Doctor grabbed hold of one of the claw-like supports, clutching onto it as the energy forced his arm out towards the panel, "His mind is too strong for a ship like this, even just the smallest touch of his hand on the panel could not just destroy this entire planet, but the whole solar system along with it!"

The energy pulled the Doctor forward, forcing him to let go of the support, pushing him forward, holding his hand just inches above the glowing orb. The Hatter grabbed his wrist that was hovering above the panel, trying to help him pull away from it.

"The correct pilot has been found," the hologram said again.

"No…worst choice ever, I promise you!" the Doctor shouted urgently, trying to fight as hard as he could against the pull, "Stop this!"

"Doctor, Hatter!" Amy cried over the link, "It's getting worse!"

The Hatter's mind raced, trying to think desperately of something, anything that would stop this from happening, "Come on, think," she muttered to herself quickly, going over everything they had learnt so far, when it hit her. Craig, why had he never been lured upstairs when he had lived there all along? "Oh, of course," she breathed in realisation, "It only picks a certain type of person, so why doesn't it want you, Craig?" she looked over to Craig, trying to figure it out.

"I…I spoke to him and he said I couldn't help him!" Craig told them quickly.

"It didn't want Sophie before today but now it does," the Doctor said quickly, catching onto the Hatter's train of thought, "What's changed?" he groaned loudly in pain, making the Hatter wince, wishing could do something to help him, "No!" he shouted, "We gave her the idea of leaving! It's a machine that needs to leave, it want's people who want to escape! And you don't want to leave, Craig, you're Mr Sofa Man".

"Doctor!" Amy screamed, "Hatter!"

"Craig, you can shut down the engine! Put your hand on the panel and concentrate on why you want to stay!"

"Craig, no!" Sophie gasped, shaking her head frantically as Craig looked back to her.

Craig turned back to the Time Lords, "Will it work?" he asked.

"Yes!" both Time Lords called.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" the Doctor shouted, growing slightly breathless with the constant resisting of the energy.

"Is that a lie?"

"My wife is in danger of getting killed!" he snapped slightly, making the Hatter blink at him in surprise, certainly not having expected that response, "Of course, it's a lie!"

Craig's eyes flickered to the Hatter, knowing that if the roles had been reversed and if it had been Sophie in danger, he would do anything to protect her. He closed his eyes tightly, "It's good enough for me," he hold out his hand, turning to the nearest panel, "Geronimo!" he slammed his hand down onto the orb, screaming in pain as the energy began running through his body, just as the ship released the Doctor, sending him stumbling back into the Hatter's arms, almost knocking her over before she could right herself under his sudden weight.

"Craig!" Sophie cried.

"Doctor!" Amy shouted from over the link, "Hatter!"

The Hatter helped the Doctor to straighten himself before they hurried over to Craig's side as Craig continued to groan loudly in pain, "Craig, you need to focus on what's keeping you here!" the Hatter told him urgently, "Tell us, what's keeping you here?"

"Think about everything that makes you want to stay here!" the Doctor instructed him in the same urgent tone that the Time Lady had used, "Why don't you want to leave?" he slapped his cheek.

"Sophie!" Craig burst out, his eyes tightly closed, concentrating hard. The Time Lords broke into smiles, "And I don't want to leave Sophie! I can't leave Sophie! I love Sophie!"

Sophie's eyes widened and she gasped, moving to Craig's side as the Time Lords stepped back, making their way around to the front of the time engine, "I love you, too, Craig, you idiot!" she said to him, slamming her hand down on the panel with Craig's hand, causing the ship to start smoking and sparking.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Amy shouted.

"It's working," the Hatter laughed, jumping on the spot in excitement, grabbing the Doctor's arm.

Craig's eyes snapped open and he looked to Sophie, "Honestly, do you mean that?" he breathed, looking as if he was only just containing his happiness.

"Of course I mean it!" Sophie replied, before looking slightly worried, "Do you mean it?"

"I've always meant it. Seriously though, do you mean it?"

"Yes," she nodded quickly.

"Ugh!" Amy muttered over the link, sounding disgusted.

The Hatter laughed again, "Aww, I think it's sweet," she glanced at the Doctor, who was watching the scene with a broad smile.

"I still think our confession of feelings to each other was better," the Doctor said quietly to her.

"What part?" she raised her eyebrows at him, "The bit were I practically tried to run around the console from you, or the part where I refused to believe you and thought you were just joking?"

He flashed her a smile, quickly kissing her cheek, "How about the part where you admitted that you were in love with me, and had been for centuries?"

She returned the smile, "Oh, yes, that was pretty wonderful, wasn't it?" she laughed again, remembering the moment very well, the moment that had really opened up a whole new chapter in their lives.

"But what about the monkeys?" Craig asked Sophie, sounding slightly concerned, drawing the Time Lords attention back to the couple.

"Oh, not now, not again!" the Doctor cut in quickly, rolling his eyes slightly, "Craig, the planet's about to burn! For God's sake, kiss the girl!" he and the Hatter finished in unison.

"Kiss the girl!" Amy shouted, sounding exasperated.

Craig swallowed nervously and bridged the gap between him and Sophie, kissing her deeply, their hands sliding off the smoking panel to wrap around each other instead. The Time Lords looked at the time engine as the smoke started to grow thicker.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Amy called a moment later, sounding relieved, "You've done it," she laughed slightly, cheering loudly in delight, "Aha, you've done it!" the Time Lords smiled at each other, "Oh, now the screen's just zeros!" she continued happily, all the while Craig and Sophie kept kissing, oblivious to the rest of the world, "Now it's minus ones, minus twos, minus threes…big yes!"

The hologram appeared again, "Help me," it began repeating over and over again, switching through different voices and projections, overloading. The Time Lords eyes widened as they caught sight of it, "Help me. Help me. Help me…"

"Ah, not quite yet, Amy," the Hatter breathed as the Doctor took her hand, both staring at the hologram in alarm.

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me.

Craig and Sophie broke apart, finally seeming to be alerted by all the noise and the room starting to shake, "Did we switch it off?" Craig asked, looking over to the Time Lords.

"Emergency shutdown," the Doctor informed them, his eyes wide as he pulled the Hatter closer to his side, "Its imploding!"

"We have to get out of here, _now_!" the Hatter shouted, starting to walk backwards towards the door, still eyeing the time engine, "Get out, out, out, out!"

"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me…"

Craig and Sophie didn't need to be told twice, both running around the time engine for the door, while the Time Lords ran after them, throwing the door open, making a dash for the stairs.

"Doctor?" Amy called, sounding concerned over the link, "Hatter?"

The entire building was shaking, sending coats and hats on the coat rack by the front door to fall off their hooks and the lights flashed above their heads as the Time Lords, Craig, and Sophie ran down the shaking stairs. Sophie reached the door first, throwing it open as they all ran out onto the street, running across the road, looking up just in time to watch as the upstairs flat disappeared as the Perception Filter faded to reveal a large spaceship standing on the roof of Craig's flat, moments before the ship disappeared completely, taking off.

They stared at the spot for a long moment before a man walking passed the building with a little boy in his arms, taking no notice of anything that had just happened, not even looking in their direction. All around them, people and neighbours continued about their business, not one person showing the slightest sign that they had witnessed anything odd just take place in their street.

"Look at them," Craig frowned slightly, watching as the man walked passed them, "Didn't they see that?" he glanced back to the Time Lords, confused, "The whole top floor just vanished".

"Perception Filter," the Doctor reminded them, exchanging an amused look with the Hatter, "There never was a top floor".

….

The Doctor and the Hatter returned to Craig's flat and slipped back inside, making their way into their bedroom, wanting to tidy all the mess that they had made up first before leaving. Once everything was back in order, they quietly slipped out and turned to enter the living room, just in time to see Craig and Sophie looking rather occupied on the sofa, both giggling with each other. The Hatter felt herself blush slightly, but couldn't help smiling softly, pleased to see how happy Craig and Sophie both were together.

"I think we should leave them to it," she murmured to the Doctor, who nodded, looking slightly pink himself.

They turned back into the hallway, the Hatter carefully dropping their set of keys down beside Sophie's set on the sideboard table by the door, glancing back over her shoulder to the couple still of the sofa, smiling softly. The Doctor took her hand, turning to head out…

"Oi!" Craig's voice called, making them pause, looking back to see Craig untangling himself from Sophie to stand, looking across the room to them.

Sophie stood, giving the Time Lords a playful look, "What, you're trying to sneak off?"

"Yes, well, you were sort of…" the Doctor shifted awkwardly on the spot as they joined them, "Busy".

"We didn't want to intrude anymore then we already had," the Hatter added, giving both humans a small smile.

Craig laughed slightly before noticing the keys they had left on the table, picking them up, and holding them out to the Time Lords, "I want you to keep these," he told them.

The Doctor blinked slightly in surprise, exchanging a quick look with the Hatter, "Thank you," he said quietly, turning back to Craig, taking the keys. He tried to give them a smile, "Because we might pop back soon, have another little stay".

"Maybe some tea," the Hatter nodded, struggling to keep her own smile on her face, "Have a nice little catch up".

"No, you won't," Craig shook his head, his eyes coming to rest on the Doctor, "I've been inside your head, remember?" he smiled softly as the Doctor lost his own smile, the Hatter sighing, "But I want you to keep them".

"Thank you, Craig," the Doctor gave him a nod, feeling quite touched by the gesture.

He returned the nod, looking between the Time Lords, "Thank you, Doctor, Hatter".

The Hatter stepped forward, pulling Craig into a hug, "Take care of yourselves," she said sternly, pulling back to give Sophie a hug, too, knowing that she was going to miss them, "Both of you".

Craig smiled at her as she let go of Sophie, wrapping an arm around Sophie's waist, "We will".

The Time Lady fixed him with a look, "Promise?"

"Promise".

The Doctor smiled, slipping the keys inside his pocket, looking between the two humans before him, "Now then," he began, "Six billion, four hundred thousand, and twenty six people in the world," he clapped his hands on Craig and Sophie's shoulders, "That's the number to beat".

Sophie laughed, blushing slightly at the Hatter's wink, "Yeah".

The Time Lords gave them one last smile as they took each other's hands and turned back to the door. They stepped outside, making their way out of the flat, heading off down the street, knowing that the TARDIS would be right where they had originally parked it. It was only a short stroll before they reached it, both breaking into delighted grins as they caught sight of the old girl, happily pulling the doors open, making their way inside and straight up to the console, starting to pull levers and press buttons.

"Back in time!" the Doctor called to Amy as she joined them at the controls, "You need to go to the paper shop, leave that note for us," he instructed her.

"Right little matchmaker's, aren't you both?" Amy remarked, glancing between the Time Lords, raising her eyebrows, "Can't you find me a fella?"

The Hatter cleared her throat, looking away, feeling a stab of grief for Rory. She reached into the pocket of her jacket, pulling out a stethoscope, pressing the end against the console as she listened, "Oh, dear, looks like the rectifier's playing up again, sweetheart," she informed him, turning to hurry off down the hallway, "I'll go get the tool kit".

The Doctor nodded as she disappeared, glancing at Amy as he headed off down a set of stairs, making his way under the console, "You write that note and I'll change that will," he said over his shoulder to her.

"You got a pen?" Amy asked after him, looking around.

"Make sure it's a red pen".

Amy sighed slightly and grabbed his blazer that he had left draped over one of the jump seats, searching through the pockets before she came across a red ring box in one. She stared at the box, bringing it up closer to her face as she opened the lid to find an engagement ring inside, one that certainly didn't belong to the Hatter.

 _ **And 'The Lodger' is finally finished. I have no idea why this chapter took me so long to finish writing, but it's finished now and we're up to 'The Pandorica Opens.' Very exciting. Also, I have another announcement to make, I am currently writing a story for 'Legends of Tomorrow' featuring a new OC. At the moment, it looks like it's going to be a Captain Cold/OC story, but at this stage, anything could change. I hope you liked it, tell me what you thought. Please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **I can understand why it might look that way, but they do have their disagreements about some things, it's just that most of it happens off screen, so to speak. It would hardly be a good thing for them to get into an argument when they're trying to stop the Earth from being destroyed. Thank you for pointing that out, though :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **I'm not really sure, I've always seen him as a hero. Yes, he has killed and hurt people, but mostly because he felt that he either didn't have a choice or because he was trying to protect another world or race. To me, a hero is someone who helps others without expecting or asking for a 'thank you'. They knowingly risk their lives to help others, and that's basically what the Doctor does on a daily bases, just simply because that's the type of person he is.**_

 _ **Well, at this point the Valeyard could be considered to be one of the Hatter's greatest fears, she certainly fears the idea of the Doctor ever becoming like him more then she does the Daleks and she's not really afraid of the Master, she's just simply very aware of how dangerous he is. However, that fear might just be replaced with something else by the time we reach 'God Complex'. Thanks for the review :)**_


	23. Chapter 23 The Pandorica Opens, Part 1

_**The Pandorica Opens, Part 1**_

Amy was sitting beneath the console in the Doctor's harness, staring at the small engagement ring in her fingers that she had found in the Doctor's pocket three weeks ago. She knew that she should slip it back into his pocket and pretend as if she knew nothing about it, but every time she came close to doing just that, something held her back. She couldn't help herself, catching herself taking the ring out and looking at it whenever she found herself alone, admiring the way that the diamond glinted in the light. There was nothing engraved on the band, nothing that might give her a clue as to who the ring belonged to, and yet she had found it in the Doctor's pocket.

She had been tempted to speak to the Hatter about it, after all, if there was anyone other than the Doctor who would know who the ring belonged to, then it would be her, but still something held her back. She knew that the ring didn't belong to the Time Lady and it was definitely an engagement ring, so why did the Doctor have it in his pocket when he and the Hatter were married? Did he consider proposing to someone else in the past? Perhaps another Time Lady, or even one of his companions? The Hatter had mentioned before that he had had companions who had developed romantic feelings for him over the centuries, but if that was so, then why did he still keep the ring when he was so clearly devoted to the Hatter? But even so, there was just something about the ring that Amy couldn't shake, something about it that pulled her to look at it, and something that made a heavy weight press onto her chest every time she looked at it.

Perhaps she was just making a big deal out of nothing. Maybe the ring was a present and wasn't an engagement ring at all, who knew what type of traditions Time Lords might have that humans didn't? It could be possible that what she thought was an engagement ring, was just a nice piece of jewellery that the Doctor was intending to give the Hatter, which was just another reason for why Amy was hesitate to ask the Time Lady. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin the surprise, if it was for her. So why did she seem to be unable to stop thinking about it? Slowly, she began to slip it onto her finger, finding that it fit perfectly, just as…

"Vavoom!" the Doctor called, his head suddenly popping over the edge of the upper level to grin at Amy.

Amy jumped, quickly slipping the ring off her finger, closing her hand around it and sitting her hands in her lap as she looked up to him, trying hard not to look to guilty or suspicious, "Va-what?" she frowned at him, confused.

His grin grew broader as he jumped back up, dashing back over to the controls as Amy hastily slipped the ring back inside it's box, hiding it inside her jacket before hurrying up the stairs to join him and the Hatter, who was looking just as excited at the Doctor, moving around the controls with him, flicking switches.

"I can't believe we've never thought of this before!" he remarked, shaking his head at himself, sliding across the glass flooring as he grabbed the Hatter's hand, twirling her around, "It's genius, dear".

The Hatter laughed, putting a hand on his chest as he spun her back around to face him, "While I do love all the twirling, sweetheart, I would rather keep it to a minimal right now," she said lightly, giving him a small smile, "But yes, thank you," her smile turned slightly smug, "It was rather a clever idea, wasn't it?"

He broke into another grin, bopping the tip of her nose, "I would expect nothing more from you," he replied brightly, spinning away from her to hit a couple more buttons on the controls.

Amy moved closer to the Time Lady, casting her a slightly concerned look, "Are you feeling okay, Hatter?" she asked, frowning slightly, "You look pale".

"I'm always pale," the Time Lady sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance, "It's been my curse throughout all of my past regenerations. I blame my Mother's side of the family, I've always taken after her side in appearance more so then my Father's side," she huffed, crossing her arms across her chest, "We were practically identical during my First regeneration".

"I mean, you look paler then normal," Amy clarified, still frowning in concern, "Sickly pale".

"Oh, it's nothing," she waved her off, completely unconcerned before she fixed Amy was a searching look, "And what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You have been very quiet lately, hiding away on your own…"

"It's nothing," Amy said a little too quickly, avoiding the Hatter's hazel green eyes that seemed to see straight through her. She hated when either she or the Doctor would look at her like that, as if they could tell exactly what she was thinking, and right now she could tell that the Time Lady didn't believe her lie for a moment. Sometimes, she really did hate how clever they both were, especially in moment like this. And the Hatter was far too perceptive then she appeared.

"Right!" the Doctor called throughout the room, catching both women's attention, making them quickly grab hold of the controls, just before he pulling a lever, "Landed!" he announced as the room shook briefly before calming once more, the sound of the engine dying down. He looked excitedly across to the two women, grabbing the Hatter's hand, "Come on!" and with that, he began to walk towards the doors with the brunet.

Amy followed after them, looking curious, "Where are we?" she questioned.

"Somewhere not even the Doctor and I have visited before now," the Hatter answered, growing excited again as she absently grabbed her jacket off the railing on the stairs as she passed it, pulling it on. She glanced over her shoulder to the girl, smiling widely, "And it's called Planet One, the oldest and very _first_ planet in the _entire_ Universe".

The Doctor paused, spinning back around to face Amy, forcing both her and the Time Lady to come to a stop, "There's a cliff of pure diamond and, according to legend, on the cliff there's writing," he informed her as Amy's eyebrows rose as she listened closely, "Letters fifty feet high, a message from the dawn of time, and no one knows what it says, 'cos no one's ever translated it".

"Until today," the Time Lady finished brightly, finding it hard to contain her excitement. She was still amazed that she and the Doctor had never thought to translate it before.

"What happens today?" Amy asked eagerly.

The Doctor smiled, lightly bobbing her nose, just like he had done moments ago with the Hatter, "Us!" he spun back around towards the doors, jumping down the stairs, "The TARDIS can translate anything…"

"Save for Ancient Gallifreyan," the Hatter cut in, shrugging, "And that's mainly because it was replaced with Modern Gallifreyan by our day," she gestured between herself and the Doctor.

The Doctor paused, glancing at the Time Lady, "That never made sense to me why they felt the need to have two versions of the basically the same language".

"Perhaps they did it so that people like you could spend hours learning a practically dead language," she said with a teasing smile at him.

He shook his head fondly at her, "Very funny, dear," he linked his arm through hers, looking back to Amy, "Anyway, now all we have to do is open the doors and read the very first words in recorded history".

The Time Lords turned and practically jogged over to the doors, Amy hurrying behind them as the Doctor threw the doors open, stepping out onto an tropical planet with quite large mushrooms growing around them, even towering over the TARDIS. They looked forward to find a huge cliff face before them, but the moment the Time Lords caught sight of it, their exchanged a look, the Hatter bursting out laughing.

Written across the cliff's face, in large letters was the words: 'Hello sweetie and Honeykins!' While beneath that, written in Ancient Gallifreyan was the Time Lords nicknames from school, Theta Sigma and Ariana, followed by a set of coordinates.

Amy laughed, staring up at the writing, "Vavoom!"

The Hatter shook her head, still highly amused, "You know, I don't know whether to applaud River's cheek, or scold her," she remarked, before pausing, glancing at the Doctor and Amy, breaking into an almost proud smile, "Nah, I'll choose cheek every time".

"I bet you were one of those Mothers who would pretend to tell their kid off, but was really quietly praising them after they got into trouble at school," Amy said thoughtfully, eyeing the Time Lady.

The brunet's eyes twinkled and she held up her finger to her mouth, giving her a wink. She did have to admit, she was secretly quite proud of some of the pranks that her children had played during their own school years, which didn't help her try to scold her youngest son, definitely her most mischievous child whenever she would receive a letter informing her of his latest detention, usually a weekly event.

The Doctor sighed heavily, shaking his head at the message scrawled across the cliff face, "I guess we have better find out what River want's now," he muttered, not sounding entirely thrilled about the prospect, but the Hatter knew that he was secretly very curious.

"Well, I doubt she would have gone to all this trouble unless it was something very important," the Hatter replied, shrugging, giving him a small, amused smile. She quite liked going on adventures with River, they usually turned out to be very interesting, if not even more dangerous than usual. She shook her head, taking his hand, starting to pull him back towards the TARDIS, "Come along, sweetheart, Amy".

….

The TARDIS materialised and the Time Lords, followed by Amy, stepped outside to find that they had landed on the edge of a forest on top of a hill.

Amy looked around through the slightly misty air, "Right place?" she asked.

"Just followed the coordinates on the cliff face," the Doctor informed her, nodding, "Earth, Britain…" he checked his wrist watch, "1:02am. No, pm…" he corrected himself, tapping his watch.

The Hatter stopped walking suddenly, something in the distance catching her attention, "More like A.D," she commented quietly.

Amy and the Doctor stopped beside her, following her gaze to find that the hill they were standing on overlooked a very large field filled with a Roman encampment, the sound of horses neighing and soldiers calling to each other drifting up the slope to them as they marched around outside the city of tents.

Amy's eyes widened slightly, taking the scene in, "That's a Roman legion," she said, a smile crossing her face.

"It's not very surprising," the Time Lady shrugged, watching the camp curiously, "The Roman's enjoyed invading Britain during this era, hence all of those Roman artefacts that farmers find in their fields during your day".

"Oh, I know," her smile grew wider, seeming to be eyeing the camp with even more interest, "My favourite topic at school. 'Invasion of the hot Italians,'" the Doctor and the Hatter looked at her strangely, making her sigh slightly, "Yeah, I did get marked down for the title".

Suddenly, a breathless Roman solider came running up the hill to meet them, saluting the Doctor by pressing his fist to his chest, "Hail, Caeser!" he knelt before them.

The Doctor blinked, taken aback, "Hi…" he said slowly, glancing at the Time Lady, who could only shrug, just as clueless as him.

"Welcome to Britain," the solider went on, keeping his gaze fixed on the ground, "We are honoured by your presence, and the presence of Calpurnia".

"Ah…thank you, I think?" the Hatter mumbled, glancing at the Doctor, very confused as to what was going on.

"Well, you're only human," the Doctor nodded to the solider, just as confused as the brunet, "Arise….Roman person," he waved a hand at him.

The man struggled onto his feet, weighed down by his armour as Amy leaned closer to the Time Lords, "Why does he think you're Caesar?" she questioned softly, frowning, "And who is Calpurnia?"

"Calpurnia was the third and last wife of Caesar," the Time Lady explained quietly to her, still eyeing the solider, "His first wife died during childbirth, he divorced the second, and the third, Calpurnia, outlived him," she paused, rolling her eyes slightly, "They were married while he was having the affair with Cleopatra," Amy gave her a surprised look, and she shrugged, "You weren't the only one who was interested in the Roman's during her school years, though my interest had little to do with attractiveness".

The man finally managed to stand, looking at them properly for the first time, and the three of them noticed that he had an odd smear of red lipstick across the corner of his mouth, his eyes looking unusually bright and unfocused, "Cleopatra will see you now," he told them, turning and starting to lead them down the slope towards the camp.

The Time Lords and Amy exchanged a look, the red head smirking slightly as they followed after the man. He lead them through the camps, passing men and tents as they went, all the while their guide couldn't help glancing back towards the Doctor every now and then, as if to check that he was still there. Amy and the Hatter found it quite amusing, while the Doctor looked rather uncomfortable by the man's attention.

At last, they reached a much larger and grander looking tent, and their guide pulled back the flap in the entrance, moving back to allow the Time Lords and Amy room to enter the space, only to stop short as they found none other than River Song lounging back on a Roman seat, wearing a black wig and an Egyptian style golden gown, dressed as Cleopatra, being offered a plate of fruit by a serving boy, while another servant poured wine into her gold goblet.

River looked up as they stepped inside the tent, breaking into a broad smile, "Hello, sweetie, Honeykins," she greeted.

"River!" Amy blinked, looking slightly surprised to see her all dressed up, "Hi".

The Hatter smiled, looking amused as she stepped forward, holding out her arms. River returned the smile, quickly standing as the Time Lady pulled her into a tight hug, "Well, you certainly know how to go undercover in style, I'll give you that," she remarked, pulling back, letting her arms drop back down to her sides.

"Do I detect a note of approval, Hatter?" River raised her eyebrows, looking pleased with herself.

She gave her a small wink, "Just a little bit," she admitted.

The Doctor, on the other hand, didn't seem to completely agree with the Time Lady as he frowned deeply at River, "You graffitied the oldest cliff-face in the Universe," he said to her, a hint of annoyance in his tone.

River looked at him calmly, "You wouldn't answer your phone," she replied.

"It was giving the Hatter a headache," he shrugged, shifting slightly sheepishly, "So I turned it off".

The Hatter gave him a sharp look, nudging his side, making him wince, "You told me you answered it and that it was a wrong number!" she accused, not looking very happy.

The Doctor winced, rubbing his side, "Well…it might have been for all I had known," he defended weakly, throwing River a look as if it was all her fault that he was in trouble now.

River rolled her eyes at him, clapping her hands quickly, glancing at her servants, who immediately left the tent. She waited until they had gone before picking up a scrolled canvas from beside her chair, holding it up for them to see, looking back to the Time Lords.

The Hatter's annoyance at the Doctor was quickly forgotten as she eyed the canvas curiously, "Oh, and what would this be?" she asked.

"It's a painting," River answered, watching their reactions closely, "Your friend Vincent," the Doctor snatched it out of her hands, starting to unroll is as he and the Time Lady stepped across the tent and over to a table. She followed behind them as Amy leaned over the table to see for herself, "One of his final works," she continued, still watching them closely, "He had visions, didn't he? I thought you ought to know about this one".

The Hatter gasped suddenly, her eyes widening in horror as she grabbed the Doctor's hand beside her as he stiffened, seeing the painting laid out on the table before them.

"Hatter?" Amy frowned worriedly, noticing her reaction, glancing at the Doctor's shocked face, "Doctor?" she leaned closer over the table, looking down at the painting to see a picture of what looked like the TARDIS exploding in space, painted flames all around the image. She struggled to hold back a gasp, "What is this?" she questioned, growing even more alarmed, "Why's it exploding?"

"I assume it's some kind of warning," River commented, looking down at the painting as the Doctor and Hatter stepped away, the Doctor practically falling into one of the chairs scattered around the space, the Time Lady sitting in another chair beside him, both looking very troubled, still holding each other's hands.

They had known that at some point, the TARDIS must have exploded and caused the cracks in the Universe, but they hadn't quite expected for events to start taking place quite so quickly. And the painting only proved that it was, indeed, the TARDIS, they couldn't escape that fact, not now. They just had to do everything within their power to insure that they fixed things, regardless of what happened next.

Amy frowned, looking to River, "Something's going to happen to the TARDIS?"

"It might not be that literal," River shook her head, looking down at the painting thoughtfully, "Anyway, this is where he wanted you," she glanced back over to the Time Lords, "Date and map reference on the door sign, see?" she nodded back to the painting where Vincent had scribbled some writing on the sign of the exploding doors.

"Does it have a title?" the Doctor asked, his voice sounding softer than normal.

"The Pandorica Opens," she told them, and the Time Lords exchanged a look, remembering River mentioning the Pandorica the last time they had seen each other, but that wasn't possible. It was a children's story, nothing more.

"The Pandorica?" Amy repeated, frowning, "What is it?"

"A box. A cage. A prison. It was built to contain the most feared things in all the Universe".

The Doctor stood, starting to pace, unable to stay still, "And it's a _fairy tale_ , a legend," he cut in, rolling his eyes, "It _can't_ be real".

The Hatter sighed heavily, ruching up to rub her forehead, "But even still, every legend and story has some truth to it," she pointed out, half wishing that she could overlook that possibility that there might be some truth involved, but as a Time Lady, she couldn't close her mind off completely when she knew well enough that every story, be it a fairy tale or legend, did have some truth to it. She looked back up to him as he paused, looking back to her, "You know that as well as I, sweetheart".

"You can't actually be believing in all of this?" he exclaimed, staring at her in amazement.

She shrugged, "You can't ignore the evidence, and right now all the evidence suggests that the Pandorica is real," she replied calmly, raising an eyebrow at him, "And need I remind you that we live in a Universe were the impossible happens every day, who are we to say that the Pandorica couldn't be real?"

"Because if it was, we would know about it".

"Why, because we are so clever that we would automatically know everything about the Universe? That's not how things work, sweetheart, the Universe holds secrets that not even you or I know about".

" _If_ it is real," River interrupted as the Doctor blinked at the Time Lady, looking as if he was struggling to come up with a reply. He did have to concede that she did make a good point there, it wouldn't be the first time they had been completely blind sighted by something big before, "It's here and it's opening," she continued, looking between the Time Lords, "And it's got something to do with your TARDIS exploding," she paused, watching as the Hatter stood, grabbing a set of maps from out of a vase, moving to unroll them across the table, examining one of them closely, "Hidden, obviously," she commented, "Buried for centuries…" she eyed the Time Lady's back as the Doctor joined her, examining it together, seeming to have conceded defeat, "You won't find it on a map".

"Not unless you look closely enough," the Hatter muttered, looking up from the map to glance at her, the corner of her mouth twitching, "After all, every pirate knows that you have you put an X on their treasure map, why wouldn't you do the same thing to the most dangerous thing in the Universe?"

There was a long pause before the Doctor cast the Hatter a sideways look, raising an eyebrow, "Pirates?" he said, amused, "That's the first place your mind went, dear?"

"What?" her smile widened, turning into a full blown grin, "They have cool hats with feathers!"

….

The Time Lords, Amy, and River rode on four horses that they had borrowed across empty fields, the Hatter laughing as the wind whipped through her hair, having tucked her hat safely away in the pocket of her jacket, not wishing to end up losing it. She caught the Doctor eye as he rode beside her and he flashed her a grin. They continued riding, following the map that the Hatter had used as one of the most famous world wonders came into view ahead of them…Stonehenge.

They hopped off their horses, the Doctor helping the Hatter climb down, his hands lingering on her waist for a moment longer then needed before they made a dash into the middle of the stones, looking around at all the large stones gathered together, the Doctor flashing his sonic around, while River followed after them, having changed into something a little more practical then her gown, tapping away on the small scanner in her hand. The Hatter moved around the stones, pausing to press her open palm against them, and feeling for any signs of vibrations.

Amy frowned slightly, looking around at all the stones, "How come it's not new?" she asked.

"Because it's already old," River informed her, still tapping on her scanner, "Been here thousands of years," she paused, casting her eyes around, her eyes drifting up to the darkening sky, "No one knows exactly how long".

"Okay, this Pandorica thing…" she began, moving further into the middle of the stones, watching the Time Lords examine the stones carefully, "Last time we saw you, you warned us about it, after we climbed out of the _Byzantium_ ".

"Spoilers!" she said, smirking as she put a finger to her lips.

"Amy, careful with your words!" the Hatter called in unison, only half listening as she pressed one ear against another rock.

Amy stepped closer to River, frowning at her, "No, but you told the Doctor and the Hatter you'd see them again when the Pandorica opens".

"Maybe I did," River shrugged, unconcerned as she walked passed her, looking down at the device in her hands, "But I haven't yet. But I will have," her scanner device beeped, making her look over to the Time Lords, "Doctor, Hatter!" she said to them as both Time Lords made their way over to a stone lying on its side in the middle of the hedge, examining it closely, "I'm picking up fry particles everywhere. Energy weapons discharged on this site".

The Doctor hopped up onto the middle stone, lowering his sonic, "If the Pandorica is here, it contains the mightiest warrior in history," he remarked, holding up a finger, "Now, half the galaxy would want a piece of that".

"Of course they would," the Hatter agreed, rolling her eyes slightly, "The type of people we're talking about here do so love a good fight".

He jumped down from the stone, moving to kneel down beside it, pressing his ear against it as the Time Lady joined him, doing the same thing, both listening, "We need to get down there".

…

Night had fallen, forcing them to set up lights all around the stones so that they could see what they were doing as River set four devices on each corner of the stone in the middle of the hedge, clicking them to make a blue light glow on them, stepping back and moving over to where the Time Lords and Amy were standing a short distance away, "Right then," she began, raising her eyebrows at them, "Ready?"

The Hatter took a deep breath, taking the Doctor's hand, holding it tightly, "When are we ever ready, River?" she remarked, trying to force a confidant smile onto her face.

The Doctor smiled slightly, pressing a quick kiss to the Time Lady's cheek, "It makes everything more interesting that way," he nodded.

River shook her head fondly at them, enjoying watching them interact with each other before she turned back to the middle of the Hedge, clicking a button on her scanner as she held it up towards the stone. Straight away, the devices she had placed on the stone activated and started to slide it across, off to the side, revealing a set of stone steps that lead down beneath the ground, hidden in the pitch black of the tunnel. The Doctor and the Hatter stepped forward, peering down at the stairs as River quickly reached inside her pocket for a small flashlight, shining it down through the opening.

"The underhenge…" he breathed, tightening his hold on the Hatter's hand as he glanced at her.

"We are possibly the first people to have seen this since it was built centuries ago," the Time Lady commented, finding the idea strangely exciting. She supposed that it must have been like the same feeling an arachnologist got whenever they entered a new tomb, not that she would ever say something like that to River. She still found, as a Time Lady, arachnologists to be highly amusing and entertaining.

He smiled softly at her, feeling the same way as he reached inside his blazer pocket, pulling out his screwdriver. Slowly, he began to step down the stairs, flashing the sonic as he went, while the Hatter followed closely behind him, Amy and River walking behind her. The steps were quite steep, making it a little awkward to walk down, forced to duck their heads to avoid thick roots that had grown through the earthy walls along the side of the stairs. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves forced to duck once more as they entered a narrow passageway, the Time Lady once again forced to slip her hat off to avoid having it knocked off.

They made it through the narrow passageway, the Doctor carefully taking a moment to look around before going any further as it opened up into a larger room, the Hatter happily putting her hat back on as the ceilings rose to a much more comfortable level. The Doctor, noticing a torch sitting in a bracket, flashed his sonic at it, causing the end to burst into flames, while the Hatter noticed a second torch on the opposite wall, quickly grabbing it as the Doctor grabbed his own. Together, they used the lit torch to light the Hatter's, just as they noticed a very large set of double doors with a thick, heavy looking board across them.

River hurried forward and moved to one end of the board before the Hatter had a chance to move, casting the Time Lady a quick glance that made the brunet blink slightly in confusion. It was almost as if River had tried to beat her to the door, as if she hadn't wanted _her_ to try moving the board away, but why she couldn't figure out why she could be concerned.

The Doctor stepped over to the other end of the board, putting a hand on the bottom of it as he glanced back to Amy and the Hatter, before, with the help of River, he shoved the end up forcefully and quickly backed away as he let it go, allowing it to fall out of its brackets on the door to land on the dirt floor, sending a small puff of dust into the air. He and River stepped over the board, grabbing the handles on the doors, pushing it open together onto a large, dark cavernous room with thick spider webs hanging from the ceiling. And at the opposite end of the room, sat a very large box with intricate circular markings carved on each side.

The Hatter stepped up beside the Doctor, staring at the box, trying to hold her torch out further to shine the light further into the room, "Blimey," she muttered. It certainly wasn't every day that she got to witness a legend come to life…well, more like every other week.

"It's the Pandorica…" the Doctor breathed, exchanging a look with the Time Lady, taking her hand.

"More than just a fairy tale," River remarked quietly, breaking into a smile.

Carefully, the Doctor and the Hatter walked into the room, sweeping their eyes around, when he frowned slightly, looking down as he stepped on something hard. He looked down to find an arm of a Cyberman lying on the ground, looking worse for wear with a few scratches on it. He glanced at the Hatter, who nodded grimly, shooting the arm a wary look as she carefully stepped around it as they continuing on their way over to the Pandorica, examining the circular patterns curiously.

"There was a goblin," the Doctor began, placing a hand on the edge of the box, holding his torch closer to see, "Or a trickster, or a warrior. A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies," he glanced at the Hatter, watching as she lightly traced her fingertip over the patterns, "The most feared being in all the cosmos. And nothing could stop it, or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world".

"How did it end up in there?" Amy asked, nodding to the Pandorica, watching the Time Lords.

"Ever fairy tale has a hero or two," the Hatter flashed her a smile, spinning around to face her, "A good witch and wizard tricked it".

The Doctor grinned broadly, exchanging a look with the Time Lady as he moved around to examine the other side of the box as the Hatter passed Amy her torch, wanting to have both hands free to continue her own examination on the same side.

River shook her head, reaching inside her pocket, withdrawing her scanner, "I hate good witches and wizards in fairy tales," she commented, stepping beside the Time Lady, shooting her a playful look as she began scanning the box, "They always turn out to be these two. Same with nannies and fairy godmothers are always the Hatter".

"That's not true!" the Hatter argued, shifting slightly awkwardly.

She paused in her scanning, raising an eyebrow at her, "Mary Poppins?" she contented, "Cinderella?"

The brunet opened and closed her mouth for a moment, actually looking lost for what to say, "Okay, so maybe that is a little bit true," she admitted, making River smirk, "But most of those stories were exaggerated. For one thing, I do not go about breaking into songs and nor can I float down from the sky with only an umbrella, and as for Cinderella, she didn't wear glass slippers. That would be terribly uncomfortable and easily breakable…" she paused, seeming to consider what she had just said, "Though, she did end up losing her shoe when she was climbing out of that window, so they did get _some_ things right," she shrugged, "Besides, I'm not the only one, the Doctor was Merlin".

Amy shook her head, amused as she turned away, looking around as she waved the torch around, "So it's kind of like Pandora's Box, then?" she questioned, getting back on track, "Almost the same name".

The Hatter paused, frowning slightly as she looked over to Amy, while the Doctor put his torch in a bracket that he found across the room, "Sorry, what?" he called back over to her.

"The story," she replied, not noticing the Time Lady's frown, "Pandora's Box, with all the worst things in the world in it," she said dramatically before breaking into a smile at herself, looking back over to the box as the Doctor moved back over to it, flashing his sonic at it, "That was my favourite book when I was a kid," both Time Lords stopped what they were doing, walking closer to her, eyeing her closely. She blinked at them in confusion, seeing their reaction, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you find it interesting, Amy, that we just so happen to land in a time that was your favourite topic in school?" the Time Lady said to her, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully, "Not to mention your favourite childhood story has practically been brought to life".

"Never ignore a coincidence," the Doctor added in agreement, before shaking his head, turning away, "Unless you're busy," he began to make his way back over to the Pandorica, the Time Lady following at a slightly slower pace, deep in thought, "In which case, always ignore a coincidence".

River glanced at the Time Lords as they joined her once more at the box, the Hatter placing a hand on the side of it, "So can you open it?" she asked them.

"Easily," he told her, shrugging as the Hatter nodded along with him, "Anyone can break _into_ a prison, but I'd rather know what we're going to find first".

River's scanner beeped and she looked down at it, her eyes widening slightly, "You won't have long to wait," she informed them, making them look at her quickly, "It's already opening," she looked back to the box, "There are layers and layers of security protocols in there, and they're being disabled, one by one," she frowned, "Like it's being unlocked from the inside".

The Hatter took a deep breath, "How long do we have?" she questioned at once, growing very serious.

"Hours at the most," she answered, pressing her ear against the box.

"What kind of security?" the Doctor cast the box a quick glance, taking the brunet's hand.

"Everything. Deadlocks, time-stops, matter-lines…"

"What could _need_ all that?" he breathed, staring at the box in amazement.

"What could get _past_ all of that?"

The Hatter shook her head, her mind racing, trying to come up with an idea of just who could possibly be inside that thing, but it should have been impossible. No one, not even a Time Lord could breakout of something like that, not unless they had help from the outside…, "It's incredible, really," she said softly, glancing back to the Doctor and River, "I mean, you can practically smell the fear that went into building this box, the panic and desperation that they must have felt to go to such measures to insure that who or whatever is inside there, would never see the light of day again".

"What could _inspire_ that level of fear?" the Doctor agreed quietly, moving around to the other side of the box with the Time Lady, pressing his forehead against the surface of the box as River looked back down at her scanner, "Hello, you," he murmured to it, "Have we meet?"

"We certainly have fought many powerful foes," the Hatter muttered to him, frowning thoughtfully again as she cast the box a long look, "But I can't imagine most of them requiring a prison like this to hold them, it just seems a little too over the top".

River looked up from her scanner, peeking around the edge to look at them, "So why would it start to open now?"

The brunet sighed heavily, looking over to her, "Haven't the foggiest, River".

"Hmm," Amy hummed loudly, turning around and looking over to them from across the room, "And how could Vincent have known about it?" she wondered, "He won't even be born for centuries".

The Hatter looked at her for a moment, before something clicked into place, "Oh, we have been so slow," she said slowly, her voice raising with excitement as she turned to the Doctor, "We've been so busy with what's inside the Pandorica, we forgot to figure out how the message got out about it in the first place!" her eyes started roaming around the room, coming to land on the very large stone pillars scattered around the room, "Sweetheart, those pillars, be a dear and scan them".

The Doctor broke into a smile, quickly kissing the Time Lady's cheek as he whirled around, flashing his sonic around at one of the pillars, "The stones!" he announced, switching to scan another pillar, "These stones are a great big transmitters, broadcasting to everyone, everywhere, to every time zone," he checked the results, spinning back around to meet the Hatter's eyes, "The Pandorica is opening!"

"Well done, Amy," the Time Lady said proudly, flashing the girl a broad smile, "We might not have thought to check how the message had got out…well, at least not for a little while," she shrugged towards the end.

River tensed, her head snapping around to look back over to the Time Lords, "Doctor, Hatter…everyone, everywhere?" she said, alarmed.

"It even reached out to Vincent," the Hatter commented, turning around to face River, not noticing her alarm, "He heard it in his dreams, calling to him".

The Doctor frowned deeply, lowering his sonic screwdriver as he eyed the Pandorica, "What's in there?" he questioned aloud, stepping closer to it, "What could justify all this?"

"Yes, but _everyone_?" River tried again, focusing on the Hatter, but even she seemed to distract trying to figure out what could be inside the box to notice.

"Anything that powerful, we'd know about it," he continued, starting to pace, "Why don't we know about it?"

"It's almost as if it was intentional," the Hatter muttered, more to herself then to the others, casting her eyes back over to the box, "Like someone meant to keep it a secret from us, but _why_? And _who_ would go to _so_ much effort?"

"You said _everyone_ could hear it," River tried to reminded them, "So who else is coming?"

The Time Lords stopped as it finally hit them what she had been trying to tell them, making them slowly turn around to look back to her, "Oh…" they breathed in unison, their eyes widening in realisation.

"'Oh?'" Amy repeated, growing worried at their reaction, "Oh, what?"

River took a deep breath, trying to hide her own alarm as she started to walk over to the nearest pillar, "Okay…" she pressed the end of her scanner against the stone, pressing commands into the device, "If it is basically a transmitter, we should be able to fold back the signal".

The Doctor dashed around the other pillars, flashing his sonic at them as he passed, "Doing it!" he called back to her.

"Doing what?" Amy asked, still worried, frowning as she watched them work.

"Stone hedge is transmitting," River informed them, reading the results on her scanner as the Doctor flashed his sonic at her pillar. The Hatter moved to her side, looking over her shoulder to see for herself, "It's been transmitting for a while…so who heard?" she looked over his shoulder to the Time Lady.

"Let's find out," the Hatter replied grimly, really not liking the idea of just who might have heard.

"Okay, should be feeding back to you now," the Doctor said quickly after a moment, still moving around the pillars, flashing his sonic at them, "River, what's out there? Getting anything?"

"Give me a moment…" she shook her head, tapping on the device.

"River, quickly, anything?" he questioned at once, looking back over to her, annoyance crossing his face briefly.

The Hatter glanced at River, noticing that she had suddenly paled, her eyes widening in horror as she stared at the device in her hand, "River, what is it?" she asked quietly, feeling dread wash over her.

"Around this planet, there are at least ten thousand starships…" she breathed, horrified. The Hatter stepped away from her, moving to the Doctor's side, grabbing his hand.

Amy's eyes widened, "At least?" she gaped, shocked.

"Ten thousand, one hundred thousand, one million, I don't know. There's too many readings".

"And what type of ships are they?" the Hatter swallowed nervously, really dreading the answer.

River pushed a button on the device, "Maintaining orbit," a Dalek's voice echoed throughout the room.

"No…why is it always them?" the Time Lady gasped, paling as the Doctor pulled her closer to him, holding her tightly as they could only listen on. The Daleks, of course it had to be them, they would never miss out on something like this, would they? And the Cybermen had obviously been there already, judging from the arm they had found.

"I obey," a second Dalek answered, "Shield cover compromised on ion sectors".

"Daleks…" Amy said softly, looking quickly to the Time Lords, fear crossing her face, "Those are Daleks".

"Yes," the Hatter nodded, trying very hard to keep her voice level, not wishing to frighten the girl anymore then she clearly was, "I'm afraid they are".

"Scan detects no temporal activity," the first Dalek reported.

"Soft grid scan commencing," the second Dalek announced.

"Reverse thrust for compensatory stabilisation".

River looked urgently over to the Time Lords, her eyes wide, "Daleks, Doctor, Hatter".

"Launch preliminary armaments protocol".

The Doctor gave himself a sharp shake, trying to shove his own fear and panic aside, needing to focus as the Hatter closed her eyes briefly before opening them, taking a deep, calming breath. Fear wouldn't help them right now, not up against the Daleks, and right now they needed to focus, otherwise they would only end up getting themselves and everyone else in the area, if not the planet, killed.

"Yes, okay," he began, talking quickly as he and the Hatter began pacing, not letting go of each other's hand, "Okay, okay, okay. Dalek fleet".

"There's going to be, at minimum, twelve thousand battleships," the Hatter remarked, trying to focus on the facts, rather than the fear and panic bubble inside her. The Daleks, they had dealt with them countless times before, they could do it again. She just had to keep telling herself that because right now, she really couldn't afford to allow herself to starting doubting herself. She took a deep breath, struggling to keep her composer, "They're all going to be heavily armed, too, which is just so typical…"

"But we've got surprise on our side!" the Doctor exclaimed, clutching at straws as he spun back around, lightly pulling the Time Lady along with him, both desperately trying to think, "They'll never expect four people to attack twelve thousand Dalek battleships…"

"For a very good reason, because it would be extremely stupid and we would all be killed on the spot," the Time Lady sighed, shooting him a sideways look, wondering if the stress was starting to get to him.

He nodded, his brief burst of excitement fading, still pacing, "Right, so it would be a fairly short surprise," he agreed, shaking his head, lightly hitting his screwdriver against his forehead, glancing back to the Time Lady, "Forget the surprise, dear".

"Nice try, though, sweetheart," she smiled weakly at him, patting his arm with her free hand.

River dashed across to another pillar, pressing the end of her scanner against the stone, "Doctor, Hatter, Cyber-ships," she called.

"No, _Dalek_ ships," the Doctor corrected her, pointing over to her, "Listen to them, those are _Dalek_ ships".

"Yes, Dalek ships _and_ Cyber-ships".

The Hatter paused, listening closely, and just as River had said, she could hear the unmistakable sound of a Cyberman's voice amongst the sound of Daleks, "Right, then," she said slowly, her mind racing as her dread grew stronger, "Well, all we have to do is get them to fight, if we let them talk long enough to each other they'll start, anyway," she rolled her eyes, remembering the battle of Canary Wharf. It certainly seemed like a long time ago now, "They're both have such huge superiority complexes".

"And it's the Daleks…" the Doctor added, shrugging as River hurried over to another pillar, pressing her device it, too, "They're _so_ cross…"

"Sontarans," River went on, checking the results, "Four battle fleets".

The Time Lady groaned loudly, running a hand down her face, "Lovely, Sontarans," she muttered, shaking her head as the list seemed to grow longer and longer with their enemies, and somehow, she highly doubted it was going to stop anytime soon. After all, both she and the Doctor had upset a number of people over both of their combined centuries of travelling.

"Talk about cross, who stole all their handbags?" the Doctor commented, trying to laugh nervously, earning a weak smile from the Hatter, which made it worth it. He held her tighter to him, feeling his fear growing even more, needing to know that she was safe right now, with him.

"Terileptil," River continued, reading off the scanner as the room was filled with more and more voices, "Slitheen. Chelonian. Nestene. Drahvin. Sycorax…" the Time Lords shook their heads, feeling overwhelmed with horror and shock as they backed back towards the Pandorica, "Haemo-goth. Zygon. Atraxi. Draconian. They're all here," she gasped, looking up from the device, "For the Pandorica!"

The Time Lords turned around to stare at the box, their eyes wide, "What _are_ you?" the Doctor breathed, "What could you possibly _be_?" and he reached out, running his hand down the edge of the box.

The ground began shaking suddenly and the Time Lords made a dash for the stairs, running up them as River and Amy hurried after them. They made their up and out into the middle of Stonehenge, only to find the night sky filled with bright lights of different spaceships buzzing and swirling around, hundreds of ships, thousands, even, all fully armed and ready for battle.

Amy stared up at them all, her eyes wide with fear and shock, "What do we do?" she asked very quietly.

River moved to the Time Lords side as they continued to stare up at the sky, unable to take their eyes off the sight before them, "Doctor, Hatter, listen to me!" she practically pleaded, "Everything that ever hated you two is coming here tonight. You can't win this! You can't even fight it!" a hint of desperation and fear for them creeped into her voice as she went on, "Doctor, Hatter, this once, just this _one time_ , please, you have to run," she urged them.

The Hatter shook her head at her, "But where would we run?" she questioned, honestly confused as to where they could possibly go, and besides, how could they run when this was going on? It wasn't in their nature to walk away just to save themselves, "How could we possibly just run, River?" she said, glancing back to her.

"Then how do you expect to fight?" she frowned deeply.

The Doctor, an idea popping into his head, reached inside his pocket and pulled out a set of binoculars, looking through them into the distance. A small smile crossed his face as he passed the binoculars to the Hatter, letting her see for herself, "The greatest military machine in the history of the Universe," he remarked.

"Oh," the Hatter breathed, catching on, breaking into a wide smile as she looked through the binoculars, "You clever, clever man".

Amy's head snapped over to them, "What is?" she questioned quickly, looking between them, "The Daleks?"

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, hope blossoming inside him and the Hatter as they turned back to look at her, smiling, "The Romans!"

….

The Doctor and the Hatter were busy examining the Pandorica, the Doctor using his sonic to scan it, while the Time Lady traced the circulars pattern on the sides, trying to work out if they held any clue as to what was inside the box. They had sent River back to the Roman encampment to bring back soldiers for them to help them, though, she had clearly still be upset with their decision to stay, but she also seemed to have realised that there was little use it trying to argue with them on the subject when they had already made up their minds.

Amy moved around the room, lighting torches scattered around to make it easy for them to see, "So what's this got to do with the TARDIS?" she asked after a moment.

"Nothing, as far as we know," the Doctor replied, sighing slightly as he moved around to help the Hatter with her own examination. After all, he had always been better at languages then the Time Lady, so if the markings were, indeed, a language, he would be more likely to work it out.

The Hatter noticed River had left her bag behind on the floor by the Pandorica, and knelt down to see if there was anything that might of use in there. She quickly located River's scanner, along with a Vortex Manipulator, which she assumed was how she had travelled to the time zone that there was in now. She grabbed the scanner and stood, using it on the box.

"But Vincent's paintings…" she frowned, moving across to a bracket on the opposite wall, putting the torch in her hands into the bracket, having finished lighting the rest of the torches, "The TARDIS exploding, is that going to happen?"

"Let's just worry about that part later, Amy," the Hatter told her, wincing at the thought as she glanced away from the Pandorica, "Right now, we have slightly more pressing concerns, for instance, this box," she turned back to the box, eyeing it thoughtfully, before looking down at the scanner in her hands, adjusting the settings slightly, "Hmm…there's force field technology inside this box," she said, checking the results.

The Doctor nodded, aiming his sonic at the box, activating it, "If we can enhance the signal, we could extend it all over Stonehenge," he commented, "Could buy us half an hour".

Amy rolled her eyes slightly in exasperation, putting her hands on her hips, "What good is half an hour?"

The Doctor pulled a listening scope device from his pocket, moving it around on the surface of the box, listening closely, "There are fruit flies live on Hoppledom Six that live for twenty minutes and they don't even mate for life," he informed her, before pausing, not noticing Amy shaking her head, turning away from them, "There was going to be a point to that," he admitted, frowning at the box, "I'll get back to you".

Amy sighed slightly to herself, reaching inside her pocket, only to feel the velvet engagement box in there that she had tucked away safely earlier that day. She turned back around, taking note of the Hatter having moved around to the back of the Pandorica, her ear pressed against the box with a concentrated expression on her face. She supposed that she might as well find out now, seeing as it might be her last chance to do so.

She stepped closer to the Doctor, trying to make sure that the Hatter wouldn't hear, "Doctor, are you planning to give the Hatter another ring?" she asked him, keeping her voice low, "Is it…I don't know, is her birthday coming up?"

The Doctor's head snapped around to give her a very confused look, "Sorry?"

"Did I hear my name?" the Hatter's head popped around the edge of the box, raising an eyebrow at Amy, who mentally groaned. She really ought to have guessed that Time Lords would have sensitive hearing.

"It's not your birthday soon, is it, dear?" the Doctor looked at her, before a worried expression crossed his face and he quickly took a step back from her, "Wait…I'm not going to get in trouble for not knowing that, am I?"

The corner of the Time Lady's mouth twitched, giving him an amused look as she stepped around to their side, taking his hand, "Considering the fact that I can't even remember my own birthday most of the time, no, you aren't in trouble," she assured him, shaking her head, "Besides, I'm quite sure I'm at least two centuries off my real age, possibly even more. Once I got past five hundred, I gave up keeping track and just went along with whatever you said, depending on the time of year. I still remember that I was born one month after Earth's Christmas".

He nodded, feeling quite relieved that he wasn't going to get a nudge or a smack on the back of the head for forgetting something like that, in his experience, most women would have been quite cross if their husbands had forgotten a date like that, "Why did you ask, Amy?" he frowned slightly, turning back to the red head.

Amy shifted on the spot, regretting bringing it up now. She should have just waited until the Hatter was out of the room before trying to ask, but at least she now knew that it wasn't a birthday present for the Time Lady. She took a deep breath, deciding to just get it over and done with as she reached inside her pocket for the box, "Because I found this in your pocket," she open the lid to show them the ring sitting inside. Both Time Lords froze, their eyes widening as Amy eyed their reaction, "I thought it might be a gift for you, Hatter".

"No," the Doctor said a little too quickly, glancing at the Hatter, "No, no, that's, uh…a memory," he pointed at it with the listening scope device before slipping the device away in his blazer. He stared at the ring as the Hatter looked away, sadness washing over her, "A friend of ours, someone we lost…" he went to reach for it, only for Amy to pull it away, "Do you mind?"

Amy looked down at the ring, seeming transfixed by it as the Time Lords watched sadly, "It's weird," she said softly, glancing back up to them, shaking her head, "I feel…I don't know, something".

The Hatter felt a burst of hope, realising that Amy could still remember Rory, if only a faint trace of an emotional connection that that ring had once meant to her, and sometimes, that was all that a person needed to remember.

"People sometimes disappear from our lives, even our memories, but they always leave behind traces," she tried to explain to her, choosing her words carefully, not wishing to startle the girl. She reached out and placed a hand on Amy's arm, "Sometimes those things are small, things that can't be accounted for. Faces in photographs, songs that make us cry or laugh, a strange coat left behind…" her eyes feel onto the ring, giving Amy a small smile as she continued to stare at the ring, fiddling with the edge of the box, "And rings. But nothing is ever truly forgotten, not really".

"And if something is remembered, it _can_ come back," the Doctor added, watching Amy's face closely, hoping that what they had said might help her to remember.

Amy looked back down at the ring for a long moment, a small, frustrated expression crossed her face briefly before she snapped the lid on the box shut with a sigh, handing the box to the Doctor, "So, was she nice, your friend?" she questioned them, forcing a smile onto her face.

The Hatter felt her hearts sink and she had to try very hard not to allow Amy to see just how disappointed she was that it hadn't worked. It simply wasn't fair, none of it was, but it did make both her and the Doctor realise that the crack from her bedroom as a child must have had more of an effect upon her then they had thought, because there was no way that Amy should have been able to even remember that emotional connection to the ring.

The Doctor gave Amy a weak smile, slipping the ring away in his pocket as he turned back to the Pandorica, before pausing, unable to concentrate on it, "Remember that night you flew away with us?" he said to Amy, looking back to her.

Amy cleared her throat, nodding, "Of course I do".

"And you asked us why we were taking you and we told you there wasn't a reason. We were lying".

"What, so you did have a reason?" she frowned, looking between them.

"It was your house," the Hatter told her.

"My house?"

"It was too big, too many empty rooms," the Doctor replied, eyeing her, "Does it ever bother you, Amy, that your life doesn't make any sense?"

Suddenly, a laser bolt flew over Amy's head and hit the Pandorica, showering Amy and the Time Lords with sparks, causing them to duck. Amy yelped, hurrying around the box, the Time Lords scrambling around the other side, trying to avoid more laser bolts as they flattened themselves against the back of the box, away from whatever was firing at them.

"Okay, what was that?" Amy gasped, slightly breathless.

"Ah, I didn't get a decent look," the Hatter shook her head, trying to calm her racing hearts after the surprise attack. She looked to the Doctor, hoping he might have been luckier.

"Neither did I," the Doctor added, making the brunet sigh. He glanced back to the two women, "Need a proper look. Got to draw its fire, give it a target".

"How?" Amy questioned quickly.

"Oh, I'm not going to like this, am I?" the Time Lady muttered, already resigned to the fact that he was more than likely going to jump straight into the things line of fire. He really didn't do things half heartily.

He flashed her a smile, confirming all that she needed to know as he glanced at Amy, "You know how sometimes I have really brilliant ideas?"

Amy gave him a small frown, glancing at the Time Lady, "I thought that was mostly the Hatter".

"Yes, well, this is what happens when she doesn't come up with the plans," he said, flashing them both a bright smile, before dashing out from their hiding spot and into the open, throwing his arms out, while the Hatter could only groan, "Look at me, I'm a target!" he shouted, sounding just a little too happy about it.

The laser fired again, both shots missing by inches as he managed to run behind a pillar across from where Amy and the Hatter were still hiding behind the Pandorica.

"That had better be worth it, sweetheart!" the Hatter called over to him, trying to make sure that he hadn't been hit from where she was standing, but he didn't seem to be in pain, just slightly out of breath. Blimey, this was probably how he felt every time she did something as reckless as that, no wonder he was so damn over the protective over her. It really was a horrible feeling, being helpless while the one you loved willing put their life on the line, not that she was a stranger to that feeling at all, "Did you see what it was?" she asked.

"It's a Cyber arm," the Doctor informed her and Amy, the Time Lady almost hitting herself for not working it out sooner. They had seen the arm when they had first arrived, for goodness sakes, "Arm of a Cyberman".

"And what's a Cyberman?" Amy questioned.

"Oh, sort of part man, part robot," he explained, trying to peer around the side of the pillar, only to quickly duck back out of sight as the arm fired at him again, "The organic part must have died off years ago, now the robot part is looking for…well, fresh meat".

"What, us?" her eyes widened, glancing at the Hatter beside her in alarm.

"More like you," the Hatter corrected lightly, "Time Lord biology isn't suitable to Cyberman conversion…" she trailed off as she noticed the frightened look that cross Amy's face, "Ah, sorry," she gave her an apologetic look, realising how that probably sounded, patting her arm, "Not to worry, we won't let that happen".

"It's just like being an organ donor, except you're alive and sort of screaming," the Doctor added, rather unhelpfully as Amy's frightened expression returned. The Hatter sighed slightly, cringing at the way he had described it. And to think she had felt bad about what she had said, the way he had said it was even worse, "I need to get round behind it, could you draw its fire, Amy?" he said, avoiding the Hatter's narrowed eyed look, noticing that he hadn't mentioned her.

"Like you did?" Amy said incredulously, staring at him.

"You'll be fine if you're quick, it's only got one arm," he assured her, giving her an encouraging smile, waving one hand around, "Literally".

"Don't worry, we'll do it together," the Time Lady told Amy, throwing the Doctor a pointed look as he opened his mouth to argue, but he quickly closed it, seeming to realise that it would be wiser to simply go along with it, "I'll run one way, you go in the other, and it won't know which one to shoot for. We'll end up confusing it, so we should both be safer that way".

"Right," he nodded to them, giving them a broad, slightly manic looking smile, and gave them two thumbs up.

Amy and the Time Lady both returned the gesture, the red head looking quite nervous as she grimaced and took off running around the opposite side of the box with a battle scream. The Hatter took off in the other direction around the box, ducking as the arm fired at her before taking a shot after Amy, not noticing the Doctor running up behind it as both women managed to take cover behind two pillars.

The Doctor dove onto the ground, grabbing the arm as it continued to fire widely, "Come here!" he said loudly, flashing his sonic at it as the Hatter and Amy peered around the sides of their pillars, the Time Lady watching worriedly, breathing a sigh of relief as the arm stopped firing, lying motionless as he continued to use his sonic on it.

Amy slowly stepped out from behind her pillar, "Doctor?" she called to him, moving closer.

"Scrambled the circuits, but stay where you are," he informed them, hurriedly pointing at Amy, seeing her moving towards him, "It could be bluffing".

"Bluffing?" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes at him, "It's an arm," she moved forward.

"Amy, do as he says!" the Hatter said sharply, carefully stepping out from behind her own pillar, eyeing the arm as if it was about to go off any second. Amy stopped and took a step back as the Doctor climbed back onto his feet, still holding the arm "We were foolish not to be more careful when we first found it here, there's no need to be any more foolish in regards to that thing," she remarked firmly.

Amy sighed slightly, crossing her arms across her chest, when she frowned, feeling something start to wrap itself around her ankle. She looked down to see a piece of wire wrapped around her ankle, her eyes widening as she looked back up again, "Doctor, Hatter?" she called, only to be pulled backwards by the wire, practically being thrown onto the ground with a loud cry.

"Amy!" the Time Lords shouted, but as the Doctor move to help, the arm he was holding suddenly released a dose of electricity, shocking him.

"Doctor!" the Hatter cried, running to his side, trying to catch him as he collapsed, unconscious, but he was too heavy for her and only ended up dragging her down with him. She struggled to pull herself up right, checking him quickly, relived to find both hearts still working. He would be fine. She quickly looked over to Amy, finding the girl trying to move backwards, only for the head of the Cyberman to send more wires shooting out, wrapping around Amy's wrists, trying to pull her closer to the head.

The Time Lady managed to climb back onto her feet, running over to try and help Amy as she stood, holding the head with her hands as the wires twisted themselves further up her arms, struggling with it. The Hatter tried to pull the wires off her, but it was pointless, its hold on Amy was to strong and it only resulted in the wires trying to wrap around her own wrists. As the fight continued, a seam down the middle of the face began to glow faintly before opening up fully, revealing the skull of the previous occupant. Amy screamed, horrified as the skull fell out, landing on the ground at their feet and the opened head began to snap at Amy's face, trying to get to her.

"We need to try getting it to release you," the Time Lady muttered, grimacing as she desperately tried to help Amy, while avoiding getting caught up in the wires, too. She looked around widely, when an idea popped into her head, "Knock it against the wall!" she shouted.

Amy quickly did as she said, trying to knock the head against the nearest walls several times, managing to loosen its hold on her slightly, allowing her the chance to throw it onto the floor away from her and the Hatter. It landed on the floor and started to scuttle around like large, metal spider, its face turned towards them.

"Well, that's just a little unnerving," the brunet swallowed, eyeing the head warily. She really didn't like how much it resembled a spider…oh, of course. She had been wondering what fear this regeneration would have, apparently she didn't like spiders. At least it wasn't heights or tunnels. They dealt with them all the time, it would be a constant nightmare to develop a fear for that. Again.

"What do we do?" Amy asked hurriedly, looking frantically to the Time Lady.

"We need to…" the Hatter began, only to stop short, wincing painfully as the head suddenly shot something out of its mouth towards her, hitting her neck with a sharp, stabbing pain. She automatically reached for it and pulled a small, silver dart from her neck, already starting to feel the effects stating to hit her, "Oh, dear…" she mumbled, stagging backwards as Amy tried to support her, her eyes unable to focus, "I don't think I'm going to be much use…to you…" her voice started slurring as her knees gave way.

Amy carefully tried to lean her against one of the pillars, throwing a look back over to the head, but just as she turned her head, it sent another dart in her direction, hitting her neck. She gasped painfully, reaching up to pull it out of the side of her neck, giving herself a sharp shake as she looked back over to the head with wide eyes.

"Get…out…side…" the Hatter slurred before everything faded into blackness, desperately hoping that Amy would be okay because if anything happened to her, she would never forgive herself.

….

Slowly, the Doctor began to feel himself waking up, wincing as his body arched after having been electrocuted, but it wasn't as if he hadn't experience that before, more times than he cared to admit. He blinked blurrily, hardly noticing the Roman soldiers standing around him, looking curious as he scrambled onto his feat, suddenly remembering exactly what had been happening before he had been shocked.

"Sir, the man's awake," one of the soldiers announced to another solider, moving away towards a set of double doors that they hadn't noticed before off to the side of the room, but the Doctor paid it no attention. He needed to find the Hatter and hopefully, after he had made sure she was okay, Amy.

"Hatter!" he shouted, looking around desperately for any sign of her. He spotted her hat lying on the floor a short distance away, hurrying over to it, and quickly picking it up. There was no way that she would have taken her hat off or not picked it up unless something had happened to her, "Hatter!" he called again. He paused, noticing a flash of yellow sticking out from behind one of the pillars, making a dash for it to find the Hatter slumped against the pillar, unconscious.

He immediately knelt beside her and started checking her over, relieved to find both her hearts beating nice and steady, her breathing deep and level. He frowned slightly as he tucked a piece of her away from neck, noticing a small, red pinprick on her skin, just below her pulse point, like a needle or a dart. He grabbed his sonic out his pocket, flashing it at the mark, quickly checking the results.

"Ah, good," he said, relieved, "Just a basic Cyberman sedative, it should were off in five minutes," as he spoke, one of the Roman solider joined him. He placed a small kiss on her forehead, before carefully tucking her hat away inside his pocket, and standing, glancing at the man beside him, not taking any notice that the solider just so happened to be Rory Williams, the man who had never been born, erased completely from existence. The Doctor didn't even blink at him, completely oblivious, "It's not meant for Time Lord biology," he remarked to Rory, as if they were just having an ordinary conversation with him back before Rory had been killed, "It would have kicked in faster, but her system will burn it out faster than if she was a human. Still, she's going to have a killer headache," he winced slightly, knowing just how cranky she was going to be when she did wake.

"Er…right," Rory nodded slowly, eyeing the Doctor strangely for a moment. He glanced down at the Hatter, feeling very confused, "And she's the Hatter?" he asked, very unsure. The last time he saw the Time Lady, she had been blonde and wore a rainbow bowtie, not a brunet with a fondness for pink and yellow.

The Doctor shook his head at him, "Of course she's the Hatter," he replied, making it sound like Rory was being the slow one, "She regenerated and now she's a brunet who likes cheese and biscuits, and wearing _tight_ skirts…" he trailed off awkwardly, glancing at Rory with a faint blush spreading across his face, "I said that last part out loud, didn't I?"

"Yeah…"

He shifted on the spot, casting the sleeping Time Lady a quick look, "Let's not mention that to her," he muttered hurriedly. The last thing he needed was for her to hear about that comment, she used to tease him all the time with her bowtie and bracers, the last thing he needed was for her to find out about how distracting he found her skirt to be. He cleared his throat, turning back to Rory, "Where's Amy?" he questioned worriedly.

"She's fine, Doctor, just unconscious," Rory told him, turning and leading him across towards the set of double doors, inside another, smaller chamber where the Doctor immediately spotted Amy lying on top of a large table.

He rushed to her side, flashing his sonic over her, "Okay…yes, she's sedated, that's all," he nodded after a moment, relieved, finishing his scan, "Half an hour, she'll be fine," he tucked his sonic back inside his pocket and turned around, breaking into a smile, "Okay, Romans!" he clapped one of the soldiers shoulders, before turning back to Rory, "Good, I was just wishing for Romans," he clapped his hands, "Good old River. How many?"

"Fifty men up top, volunteers," he said, watching the Doctor as he remained completely oblivious, "What about that thing?" he asked, pointing to the rest of Cyberman's body that had been impaled on the door by a sword.

" _Fifty_?" he repeated, disappointed, "Not exactly a legion".

Rory glanced at the solider, giving him a nod to go and watch over the Hatter. The man left the room as he turned to the Doctor, "Your friend was very persuasive, but it's a tough sell," he commented, glancing back to Amy.

"Yes, I know that, Rory," he sighed, shaking his head at him as he looked around the room, already missing having the Hatter by his side. Still, she should be waking up within the next two minutes, by his calculations, "I'm not exactly one to miss the obvious, but we need everything we can get," he completely ignored Rory as he went to say something, noticing a metal chest. He reached inside it and pulled out two very large guns, looking them over, "Okay, Cyber-weapons. This is basically a sentry box," he hit one of the guns against the Cyberman's chest, making it clatter loudly, "So, headless wonder here was a sentry. Probably got himself duffed up by the locals," he glanced at Rory, "Never underestimate a Celt".

"Doctor…" Rory began.

"Hush, Rory," he cut across him, going on, "Why leave a Cyberman on guard? Unless it's a Cyberthing in the box. But why would they lock up one of their own?" he frowned, before shaking his head, "Okay, no, not a Cyberthing, but what, _what_?" he groaned in frustration, shaking the guns around, "No, I'm missing something obvious, Rory," he stepped right up to Rory, looking him directly in the eyes, "Something big, something right slap in front of me, I can feel it!"

Rory eyed him, "Yeah, I think you probably are," he agreed.

"The Hatter would know, she always knows…well, almost always," he sighed, shaking his head, "I'll get it in a minute," he turned around, adjusting the guns in his arm, and strolled out of the room, leaving Rory standing there, waiting…when there a loud clatter outside as the Doctor dropped the weapons, slowly walking back into the chamber, staring at Rory. He stepped back up to him and carefully poked his chest to make sure he was real, making Rory sway, "Hello again," he said quietly.

"Hello," he nodded.

"How've you been?"

"Good. Yeah, good. I mean…Roman".

"Rory, I'm not trying to be rude, but you _died_ ".

"Yeah, I know. I was there".

"You died and then you were _erased_ from time. You didn't _just_ die, you were _never_ born at all, you never _existed_ ".

Rory frowned at him, "Erased?" he said, confused, "What does that mean?"

The Doctor broke into a broad, delighted smile and held out his hand towards his face, unable to believe what he was seeing before him. Oh, the Hatter was going to love this, it was like Christmas, "How can you be here?" he breathed, staring at him.

"I don't know," Rory admitted after a moment, looking very unsure, "It's kind of fuzzy".

"Fuzzy?"

"Well, I died and turned into a Roman," he replied, shaking his head, "It's very distracting!" he turned and stepped closer to Amy, stroking her cheek, "Did she miss me?" he asked.

The Doctor looked at his back sadly, unable to answer. The Hatter was much better at dealing with something like this, she would have known exactly what to say and how to say it to comfort Rory, to assure him.

"Sir!" the solider returned, moving into the doorway, making Rory and the Doctor looked at him, "The woman has woken".

The Doctor broke into another smile, running passed the solider and out the door, Rory follow behind him as they dashed back over to where they had left the Hatter to find her holding her head in her hands, as if it pained her, still slumped on the floor, "Hatter!" he called happily.

The Hatter groaned, clutching her head tighter, "Not so loud," she moaned, feeling like his voice was grating against her eardrums, making her head hurt even more, and the nauseating feeling in her stomach grow worse. She had almost been close to being ill when she had first woken, she really wanted to avoid being sick if she could avoid.

He winced, moving to kneel beside her, "Sorry, dear".

"Do you remember when you convinced me to drink that bottle of wine with you when we were kids? My head feels like it did the next morning, only I'm not currently curled up in a ball on my bathroom floor, begging for death to come swiftly".

"It will pass," he assured her, trying hard not to find her melodramatic response amusing. He remembered that morning…well, vaguely. It certainly had been an unpleasant morning with a very surprising twist to it.

She managed to lift her head, her face looking sickly pale and slightly green, but she groaned loudly again almost at once, closing her eyes, "Oh dear, I'm hallucinating, too," she muttered, having caught sight of Rory standing behind the Doctor, dressed as a Roman, of all things. Sometimes it really did worry her just what her mind came up with, "Sweetheart, I can see Rory dressed as a Roman. I think I might have finally snapped, next I'll be saying that pears are tasty, this really isn't good".

"Hi, Hatter," Rory gave her a little wave, unsure of what he should do.

The Time Lady's eyes widened, "And now he's talking to me," she gasped, and the Doctor began to look at Rory, struggling to hide his laughter. She grabbed his arm with surprising speed, "No, don't look at him!" she hissed sternly at him, "That will only encourage him…it, whatever do you call your hallucination?"

The Doctor laughed, unable to hold it back as he put a hand on her cheek, "Dear, you're not hallucinating," he told her gently. Oh, he was so using this to tease her later, "It's Rory, he's alive".

"Doctor, Rory died, I saw it happen".

"And now he's alive…and a Roman".

The Hatter stared at him, feeling her drug addled brain starting to work better, becoming more focused as the last effects of the drug began to fade. Even her headache and sensitivity to noise had started to fade, though, she still felt sickly. Slowly, she looked at Rory, frowning deeply at him. He did look _real_ , she supposed, "Would someone please explain to me how that is possible?" she said after a long moment, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Well, that's the thing," Rory began, trying to smile, shrugging, "I don't know. Like I told the Doctor, it's all fuzzy".

"Fuzzy?" she repeated, sighing slightly. Well, that was hardly helpful, but nothing ever really was when it came to things like this. She held out her hand and the Doctor helped her onto her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist as she shook her head, "Let's just add this onto the list of seemingly impossible things that just seem to be piling up today, shall we?"

With everything else that they had to deal with, Rory suddenly returning from the dead seemed like it was going to be harder to work out then how to stop almost every alien that they had ever fought from killing them, which was really saying something.

Suddenly, there was a loud whooshing and rumbling sound, followed by the surprised shouts of the soldiers around them. The three of them ran around the pillar and over to the Pandorica to see that the symbols on its surface had begun to glow with a green light, the sound of gears grinding sounding off it. The Doctor quickly flashed his sonic at the box.

"What is it?" Rory asked, reaching to grab his sword on his hip, eyeing the box, "What's happening?"

The Doctor lowered his screwdriver, staring at the box, "The final phase," he breathed, taking the Time Lady's hand, holding it tightly, "It's opening".

 _ **Can I just say how much fun a drunk/drugged Hatter would be? She's bad enough sober, let alone adding something else to the mix. And then the next morning would be hilarious, I can just imagine her being so dramatic about how she's close to dying and that the Doctor's face is hurting her eyes to look at. Anyway, we also get the Hatter's birthday, or at least going by an Earth colander, and while I don't believe in Astrology, for those of you who do, that would mean that she was born under the Aquarius sign, just if anyone was interested. Next chapter, the Doctor does something to really impress the Hatter, what else couldn't history handle? And the Pandorica opens…**_

 _ **Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **Funny you should mention Jax because it wasn't until you did that I realised that my new OC and him would actually get along pretty well, both have given up professional sports, both have similar confused reactions to certain references, but my OC is at least 11/12 years older than him, which is the main reason why I would be so hesitate to start a romantic relationship between them. I'm sorry I can't give any more reasons at this point without giving anything away, just know that at this point in writing the story, it really could go anyway. I have to admit that I could see her and Rip together even, however, that's very highly doubtful for several reasons. Thanks for the review and suggestion :)**_


	24. Chapter 24 The Pandorica Opens, Part 2

_**The Pandorica Opens, Part 2**_

As they continued to watch the symbols glowing on the surface of the Pandorica, the Doctor stepped closer to it, placing a hand on the middle of the turning gears, watching it move beneath his hand. The Hatter moved forward, following the turning of the gears with her eyes, sensing that they were very close to finding out just what or who was inside the box. She couldn't help feeling a mixture of excitement and dread at the prospect.

There was a beeping sound on the comm. that River had left behind so that she could speak to them, and the Hatter quickly knelt by her bag, grabbing the device out of the bag as the Doctor laid on the ground, flashing his sonic at the box, "Hello, River!" the brunet called over the comm. brightly, making sure that the Doctor could hear, too, "Something tells me this wasn't a call to chat".

"You're surrounded," River replied over the link, the Hatter's smile didn't even dim, having already suspected as much from all the swooshing noise she could hear coming down the stairs, "Have you two got a plan?"

"Yes!" the Doctor said loudly, still on the floor, and the Time Lady held the device over towards him so that River could hear him, "Now hurry up and get the TARDIS here," he went on firmly, "We need equipment!"

The Hatter ended the link, imagining River's eye roll on the other end, "You know, sweetheart, you could have added a 'please' in there," she remarked, giving him a light scolding look as he stood, eyeing the box as he slipped his sonic screwdriver back inside his pocket. She shook her head at him, "Honestly, your Mother would be so disappointed after all the effort she put into trying to make you a gentlemen".

He gave her a mock hurt look, "I _am_ a gentlemen!"

"To me, yes," she smiled softly, thinking of all the times he opened doors for her, helped her down from something, regardless of how small the distance to the ground might have been, and just his general behaviour to her, "But not to many other people".

"You bring out the best in me, dear," he broke into a smile, reaching forward to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, "You always have".

She stared at him for a moment in disbelief, "You did _not_ just manage to turn that around to say something sweet to me".

His smile widened and he gave her a cheeky wink, unable to resist. He hadn't earned his nickname from her for nothing, after all, and when a chance like that came up, he just had to take it to see what her reaction would be, and it certainly didn't disappoint. But their jovial mood was short lived as they focused their attention back on the task at hand: the Pondorica and the thousands of enemy ships currently buzzing around over their heads.

"What are you?" he murmured, eyeing the box, frowning, "They're all here, all of them, all for _you_. What could you possibly _be_?"

"We're going to go up there, aren't we?" the Hatter sighed slightly after a moment, glancing at the Doctor. After all, it was what she would have done, "Try and buy some more time to figure things out," she held up the comm., knowing that it could also act to project a message loud enough for every one of those ships to hear, with a little tweaking, of course.

The Doctor flashed her another smile and took the device from her, bopping her nose, making her scrunch up her face at him, "And that's one of the reasons why you and I work so well together," he commented, reaching inside his pocket from his sonic screwdriver again, flashing his sonic over the comm. device, putting in the right frequency setting, "We both think so alike, I don't even have to tell you my ideas. You just _know_ ".

"I do have the added advantage of having known you for most of our lives, one tends to pick up on the others thought process after a few centuries of friendship".

With the comm. frequency adjusted so that it was linked to the pillars around them, the Time Lords made their way through the narrow passageway and up the stairs, but just as they started making their way up them, the Doctor fumbled with the comm. and dropped it, quickly picking it up as the Hatter laughed quietly behind him, shaking her fondly.

Honestly, this regeneration could be so clumsy sometimes, he was almost worse than her First regeneration had been, and she had frequently tripped over her own skirts while simply standing up from a chair, which could be highly embarrassing when you were in the middle of a High Council meeting and in front of the Lord or Lady President. Thank goodness for Time Lords and their graciousness, they were all too well mannered to ever make a comment about it, at least, while she was around. Time Lords did love to gossip.

"Sorry, sorry, dropped it!" the Doctor said hurriedly, activating the speaker so that his voice echoed all around them, causing a bit of feedback that made the brunet wince, "Hello, Stonehenge!" he called, almost sounding like a gameshow host, "Who takes the Pandorica, takes the Universe. But bad news, everyone…" he and the Hatter ran up the last few steps, jumping onto the stone that had once covered the entrance to the underhendge, smiling broadly up to the sky that was filled with thousands of ships buzzing and zooming about, shining spotlights down on them all, "'Cos guess who! Ha!" he laughed.

"So lovely for you all to join us tonight!" the Hatter said mockingly, her voice echoing around, too. Rory, who was watching the entire scene unfold with his soldiers gathered around, quickly turned in their direction, listening, "Really, you just couldn't resist, could you? But then again…" she paused, glancing at the Doctor beside her, "Neither could we".

He smiled at her and turned back to look up at the sky, grimacing slightly as he was almost blinded by all the bright lights they had shining down on them, "Listen, you lot," he began over the speaker, "You're all whizzing about, it's really very distracting…"

"Not to mention it's starting to bring my headache back," the Time Lady added quickly, wincing slightly at all the bright lights blurring around the sky. Her sickly feeling had even returned.

"Could you all stay still for a minute?" he continued, "Because we. Are. _Talking_!" he shouted, and surprisingly, all the ships listened and almost immediately stilled, the sound of their engines quietening throughout the night, "The question of the hour is, who's got the Pandorica?" he called, lowering his voice to its normal level, "Answer…" he exchanged a smile with the Time Lady, taking her hand, "We do. Next question, who's coming to take it from us?" he paused, holding out his arms, practically daring them to try, "Come on! Look at us, no plan, no back up, no weapons worth a damn. Oh, and something else, we don't have anything…to…lose! So if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship, with all your silly little guns, and you've got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who's standing in your way!" he pulled the Hatter closer to him, pointing up at the sky, "Remember every black day we ever stopped you. And then, _and then_...do the smart thing," he paused, lowering his voice, "Let someone else try first".

The Time Lords held out their arms, their hands still entwined, daring someone to try as almost at once, the spaceships began taking off into the night, taking their lights off Stonehenge. Rory sighed in relief and watched with the other Roman's as they stared around in amazement as the ships all disappeared. The Hatter laughed and quickly pulled the Doctor in for a deep kiss, always having had a soft spot for when he made one of his very memorable speeches, and this one was definitely going to be one of her favourites.

The Doctor joined in with her laughter as they pulled away after a moment, a faint blush covering his cheeks as he tossed Rory the communicator device, jumping down off the rock and holding out a hand to help the Time Lady down, "That'll keep 'em squabbling for half an hour," he remarked.

"At the very least," the Time Lady agreed, grinning, feeling quite proud of the Doctor. He was always saying that she was better at words then him, but she disagreed with that. They were both equally good in that regard and tonight's little display only proved that.

He paused and glanced around at all the soldiers, who seemed strangely calm after what had just happened, before turning to raise his eyebrows at Rory, "Romans," the corner of his mouth twitched as he and the Hatter turned, heading off back down stairs to the underhedge, Rory hurrying along after them.

"They're still out there," Rory remarked as they entered the caverns chamber once more, giving Hatter the communicator device as he looked between the Time Lords, "What do we do now?"

"If we can stop whatever's in this box getting out, then they'll go home," the Doctor informed him, waving a hand in the direction of the Pandorica.

He frowned slightly, glancing at the box, "Right…"

The Doctor tensed, having seen something over Rory's shoulder, making the Hatter give him a slightly concerned look, "Rory, we're sorry," he began sincerely, turning back to the man. He couldn't imagine what it would be like if the Hatter ever forgot him and the things they had shared, "You're going to have to be very brave now".

The Hatter followed his gaze to see Amy walking towards them, having just woken up, grimacing slightly as she rubbed her head. The Time Lady couldn't help sympathising with the girl, knowing just how painful that headache was, luckily it would pass soon.

Amy walked straight passed Rory, not even looking at him as she moved to the Time Lords, "Oh, my head," she groaned to them, still grimacing, looking half asleep.

"You are going to be perfectly fine, Amy," the Time Lady assured her gently, making sure not to raise her voice to much as she wrapped a comforting arm around the girls shoulders, sending Rory a quick, apologetic look, "It was just some basic knockout drops, nothing to worry about," she gave her a small smile, letting her arm fall from her shoulders, fixing her with a stern, almost motherly expression, "Now go outside and get some fresh air, that should help wonderfully with the headache and sickly feeling".

"Is it safe up there?" she asked, knowing better then to try arguing with the Hatter when she got into one of these moods.

"Not remotely, but it's fresh," the Doctor said, giving her a smile as he reached inside his pocket for his sonic, turning to face the Pandorica.

"Fine," she sighed, and turned to leave, almost walking straight into Rory, who was smiling shyly at her. The Time Lords quickly tried to look busy scanning and examining the box, not wanting to seem as if they were actually listening. She jumped back slightly in surprise, "Oh, you're the guy, yeah, the one who did the…" she mimed stabbing movements in the air, "…swordy thing".

Rory's face fell, realising the horrible truth that Amy truly didn't remember him. He had hoped that if she could see his face, she might remember him again, but apparently he had been wrong. He swallowed his pain, trying hard not to let it show, "Yeah," he nodded.

"Well, thanks for the…swording," she mimed the motion again, "Nice swording," she tapped his shoulder briefly and started to walk passed him, heading for the stairs.

He stared off into the distance for a long moment, his heart breaking, "No problem," he said quietly, before he quickly spun back around to see her, "Ah, my men are up there," he told her hurriedly, "They'll…they'll look after you".

"Good," she called back, not looking back as she waved a hand at him, "Love a Roman!" and with that, she disappeared up the stairs.

The Time Lords gave up pretending and turned away from the box to look at Rory, both feeling so terribly saddened for both Rory and Amy. It wasn't supposed to be like this, the two of them should have been happy and excited for their wedding, not this. This was cruel and painful, and it made it all the more worse now that Rory was back, somehow alive with all of his memories intact.

Rory watched Amy go, "She doesn't remember me," he breathed, heartbroken as he whirled back around to the Time Lords, "How can she not remember me?" he demanded.

The Hatter sighed heavily, stepping closer to him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, grateful when he didn't try to pull away, "She _can't_ remember you, Rory," she said sadly, "Or, at least she can't remember you completely," she added, remembering how Amy had acted with her ring, "You never existed, the only reason the Doctor and I can remember you is because we are Time Lords".

The Doctor turned around, flashing his sonic at the Pandorica, "There are cracks," he tried to explain to him, "Cracks in time. There's going to be a huge explosion in the future, one particular day," the Time Lady winced as he continued, "And every other moment in history is cracking around it".

"So how does that work?" Rory questioned, frowning deeply at them as he started pacing, "What kind of explosion? What exploded?"

The Time Lady exchanged a look with the Doctor, both recalling all that they had learnt about the cracks and what all the evidence pointed to, that it was supposed to have happened on Amy and Rory's wedding day. She gave herself a sharp shake, trying to give Rory a smile, "That's not important," she said quickly, "The main thing is that the cracks are _everywhere_ , and if you are too close to one…" she fixed Rory with a pointed look, "You might just fall right out of the Universe".

"So I fell through a crack and now I was never born?"

"Basically," the Doctor agreed.

"How did I end up here?"

The Hatter hesitated, "We don't know, not yet," she admitted, frowning slightly. She couldn't help feeling extremely curious, she had never seen or heard of anything like this before. She meet Rory's eyes, "There are very few things in the Universe that I would flat out call impossible, and this _should_ be one of them," she shook her head, "What actually happened, from your point of view? What _physically_ happened?"

"I was in the cave, with you two and Amy," Rory told them as they listened closely, "I was dying and then I was just here, a Roman soldier. A _proper_ Roman. Head full of Roman…stuff, a whole other life. Just here, like I'd woken up from a dream. Started to think it _was_ a dream," he admitted, "You two and Amy and Leadworth. Then today, in the camp, the men were talking about the visitors, the girl with the red hair," he paused, laughing bitterly as he looked away from them, "I thought you'd come back for me. But she can't even _remember_ me".

"Oh, shut up," the Doctor cut in suddenly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

He blinked at him, surprised, "What?"

"Don't give up," the Hatter smiled at him, "Just because she can't remember now, doesn't mean she can't," she shrugged, giving him a wink, "She fell in love with you once, didn't she?"

The Doctor grinned, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out the ring box, tossing it to Rory, who caught it, "Go get her!" he encouraged as Rory opened the box, staring down at the ring inside it.

Rory looked up from the ring, very confused as he looked back and forth between the Time Lords, "But I don't understand," he said, shaking his head, "Why am I here?"

"Because you _are_ ," he replied, shrugging. Neither he or the Hatter had anyway of answering that, not at this point, and perhaps they never would, "The Universe is big. It's vast and complicated and ridiculous, and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles, and that's the theory," he smiled softly, taking the Hatter's hand, "Nine hundred years, I've only ever seen one miracle".

And it really was a miracle that he had found the Hatter again. He could have so easily have missed finding her if he had just left that park with Rose or if he hadn't landed there when he had, or if she hadn't had her watch on her like she had. He could have so easily have just dismissed her as a human. Emma Smith would have gone on, living her daily life as a human with her human boyfriend and work at the Royal Hope Hospital, never knowing who she really was and just how important she was to him. The fact that he found her, even with a completely different face, that was a miracle to him.

The Hatter smiled fondly at him and shook her head, recognising that glint in his eyes that he always seemed to get when he was thinking about her. She couldn't help feeling both flattered and embarrassed as she turned to Rory, "Personally, if there was ever a moment for me to start believing in miracles, it would be this one," she grinned broadly at Rory.

She deciding not to mention that she, too, had witnessed a miracle, and that was the fact the Doctor was still such a wonderful, kind man, despite everything that he had gone through. Even after all the darkness and pain that he had endured during the Time War, he still kept fighting and that, to her, was a miracle because there was no one else in the Universe that she could possibly think of who could do all of what he had been forced to do during the Time War, all the things that he had lost, and still come out wanting to help others.

The Doctor turned back to Rory, smiling widely at him, "Now get upstairs," he told him, "She's Amy and she's surrounded by Romans," he shook his head, shooting the Hatter a teasing look, "That's like letting the Hatter loose in a hat shop, I'm not sure history can take it".

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" the Hatter exclaimed, feeling her face heating up, knowing perfectly well that she was lying. She never could resist a hat shop, just like her last body couldn't resist sweets.

Rory smiled faintly, giving them both a nod as he held up the ring box. The Doctor slapped his back encouragingly, trying hard not to laugh at the Time Lady's reaction as they both watched Rory turn and leave, hurrying up the stairs, disappearing from sight.

Several minutes passed while the Doctor and the Hatter got back to work investigating the Pandorica, and a few Roman's entered the room, moving around the space, just as the communicator beeped in the Hatter's pocket. She quickly grabbed it out of her pocket, moving closer to the Doctor so he could hear, too, holding the device up to her ear, "River, where are you?" she asked, feeling slightly concerned that she hadn't returned with the TARDIS yet.

"TARDIS, where is it?" the Doctor demanded at once, not giving River a chance to respond as he leaned closer to the Hatter, pressing his ear against the back of the device, almost knocking the brunet's hat off, "Hurry up!" he snapped.

"Don't raise your voice, Doctor," River said quickly and calmly on the other end, "Don't look alarmed, just listen".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, making sure to keep their expressions blank as they moved around the side of the Pandorica, slightly hidden from view of the Roman soldiers, "What is it?" the Time Lady questioned softly, feeling very wary about just what else could have gone wrong.

"They're not real, they can't be," she told them as they both listened carefully, "They're all right here in the story book, those actual Romans, the ones I sent you, the ones you're with right now. They're all in a book in Amy's house, a children's picture book".

The Doctor frowned, casting a quick glance around, "What are you even doing there?"

"It doesn't matter. The TARDIS went wrong. Doctor, Hatter, how is this possible?"

"They've been using Amy's memories," the Hatter realised, her eyes widening slightly as things started to make a bit more sense, at last, "But how _exactly_?" she frowned slightly as the Doctor glanced around the edge of the box, checking that the soldiers weren't paying attention to them, busy looking at the Cyberman weapons, "River, you mentioned someone having been there?"

"Yes, there's burn marks on the grass outside, landing patterns".

"Of course," she breathed, nodding as she glanced at the Doctor, wondering how she could have missed that before, "If they managed to get inside her house, then they could have easily used her psychic residue".

The Doctor glanced at the soldiers again, "Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts," he remarked, sighing slightly, "They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories. But _why_?" he shook his head, checking on the soldiers once more.

"Who are those Romans?" River asked, taking a deep breath.

"Projections?" he suggested.

"Possibly duplicates?" the Hatter added thoughtfully, she and the Doctor peering around the edge of box, eyeing the soldiers carefully.

"But they were _helping_ us! My lipstick even worked".

"They might think they're real," the Doctor replied quietly, watching as the Romans walked around, talking to each other. Nothing _seemed_ out of the ordinary, "The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated," he took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly.

If they had thought that the sky being full of enemy spaceships was bad, being surrounded by an entire army of unknown origin that they had, up until that point, actually trusted and felt relatively safe around, was even worse.

"That Centurion…" River began after a long pause, "There's a picture here of him and Amy, together," her voice grew more urgent, "It's a trap, it _has_ to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you two".

"Why?" he shook his head, exchanging a frown with the Hatter, "Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make _sense_ …" there was a loud bang on the other end of the link, followed by the sound of River crying out in surprise, "River?" he called, "River!"

"What's wrong?" the Hatter asked worriedly, really not liking the sound of that bang and River's shout, not caring if they caught the attention of the Romans, "What's happening, River?"

"I don't know, it's the engines," River's voice came over, sounding slightly louder than before, as if she was talking over the sound of something else on her end, "There's something wrong with the TARDIS, like something else is controlling it!"

"You're flying it wrong," the Doctor dismissed.

"I'm flying it _perfectly_!" she snapped, sounding annoyed, "The Hatter taught me!"

"Never mind that," the Hatter cut in quickly, shooting the Doctor a look, "Where are you?" she questioned, trying to figure out what could possibly be going wrong with the TARDIS. There were very few things left in the Universe that could possibly have the power to control a TARDIS, "What's the date?"

"It's the 26th June, 2010".

The Doctor and the Hatter looked at each other, the colour draining from the brunet's face as their eyes widened in horror, "You need to get out of there now!" he ordered her urgently, "Any other time zone, just go".

"Do it, right now!" the Time Lady added hurriedly, her eyes wide.

"I can't break free!" River shouted.

"Shut down the TARDIS," the brunet called, her mind racing, desperately trying to think, "You have to shut down _everything_ , River, right _now_!"

"I can't!" she yelled.

There was a tense moment of silence as the Time Lords waited, listening, when a deep voice that didn't belong to River echoed distantly over the link.

"Silence will fall," the voice hissed, and the Hatter felt a cold shiver run down her spine at the words, "Silence will fall".

And then River's voice came back over, "Someone else is flying it," she told them, sounding as if she was forcing herself to remain calm, "An external force. I've lost control".

"But how?" the Doctor frowned, shaking his head, looking at the Hatter, who was just as clueless as he was, "Why?"

Suddenly, a high pitched squeal cut through the room, making the Time Lords cringe and quickly cover their ears that weren't still pressed against the comm. device as the sound continued, before fading after a moment, much to their relief. It was worse than hearing finger nails being scraped against a chalkboard and louder than pressing two sonic screwdrivers together.

"Blimey," the Hatter muttered, rubbing at her free ear as it rang painfully, but they needed to focus on getting River out of the TARIDS first. They could focus on whatever that sound had been once she was safe, "River, you've got to listen to us and just land her anywhere you can," she said firmly over the link, needing her to know just how serious they were, "You need to do an emergency landing, _now_!"

"There are cracks in time, we've seen them everywhere," the Doctor explained to her quickly, "And they're getting wider. The TARDIS exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her!"

"It's not safe," River argued.

The Pandorica suddenly began moving as the box started opening, two sides sliding away from the corner of the box directly facing them, filling the room with a bright white light, blinding whatever was inside the box from their view. The Time Lords froze, staring at the box with wide eyes as the Hatter absently lowered the comm. device from her ear.

"Well, now…" the Doctor breathed, grasping the Hatter's hand tighter, stepping closer to her, not taking his eyes off the box, "Ready to come out, are we?"

"Doctor, Hatter!" River's voice called, sounding slightly breathless, and the Hatter quickly held the comm. device back up between herself and the Doctor, listening as they kept their eyes on the box, "I'm down," she informed them, "I've landed".

"Good," the Hatter sighed in relief, nodding distractedly, trying to squint her eyes against the glare coming out of the box, "You need to get outside, River. If no one is inside the TARDIS, the engines will automatically shut down," she took a deep breath, "The main thing is that you get out, okay?"

"I'm going," she replied.

"Run!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing his sonic out of his pocket, flashing it at the Pandorica, trying to scan it, taking a step closer to the box. The Hatter watched, waiting tensely for the results.

"Doctor!" River's voice sounded loudly over the link after a moment, "Hatter! I can't open the doors!"

The Hatter began to lift the device up to her ear, when something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned, only for her eyes to widen in surprise to find all the Roman soldiers advancing towards her and the Doctor, their expressions completely blank of emotions. She swallowed, accidently dropping the comm. in her surprise, "Doctor!" she shouted urgently.

The Doctor spun around at the sound of her shout, feeling his hearts racing in alarm, just in time to see one of the soldiers grab the Hatter's arms roughly, forcing them behind her back, making her wince in pain. He ran forward, trying desperately to grab her, but just as he had managed to grab the edge of her jacket, another two soldiers grabbed him, too.

"Doctor, Hatter, I can't open the doors!" River cried out frantically over the link, "Please, I've got seconds!"

But there was nothing that either the Doctor or Hatter could do as they were both retrained by two soldiers each, slowly being led away from the Pandorica.

"Oh, we are such fools," the Hatter groaned, shaking her head at herself, feeling her hearts break for River. She should have known better, they both should have, "Plastic Romans, in other words, duplicates that are controlled by our old friend, the Nestene Consciousness," she tried to pull herself free with a sharp pull, but it was little use.

"Deep cover, but what for?" the Doctor wondered aloud, narrowing his eyes at the soldiers holding him, trying to wriggle himself free. He desperately wanted to get to the Hatter, "What are you doing?" he glared at them, "What's in there, eh?" he tried to look back over his shoulder to the box, before turning back to the soldier holding him, lowering his voice to a mock whisper, "What's coming out?"

The duplicates took positions, coming to a stop, turning around to face the Pandorica, while forcing the Time Lords to remain facing the opposite direction. The Hatter tried to turn her head to see, hating not being able to see what was going on.

"The Pandorica is ready," one of the soldier's holding the Doctor announced.

The Doctor frowned, trying to look, too, "What, you mean it's open?"

"What is going on?" the Hatter demanded, starting to grow angry and frustrated. She had enough of all the questions and lack of answers, and her and the Doctor being held hostage was doing very little to improve her mood, "I'm all for drama and drawing things out for the fun of it, but please, this is getting ridicules. Now, tell us what the hell is going on!" she almost shouted, only just managing to restrain herself, knowing perfectly well that yelling and shouting would do little good.

"You have been scanned," a Dalek's voice rang throughout the room from behind the Time Lords, making them both stiffen, the Hatter inhaling sharply, "And assessed. Understood," slowly, both very pale, the Doctor and the Hatter turned their heads to see the white Dalek appear behind them, wheeling closer the Time Lords, "Doctor," it greeted, "Hatter".

Behind it, a red and yellow Dalek materialised, just as the duplicates holding the Doctor and Hatter turned them around so that they were facing the Daleks as they struggled, desperately trying to get themselves free.

"Scanned?" the Hatter repeated in a shaky voice, desperately trying to make herself sound stronger. Both she and the Doctor were completely trapped, no trick up their sleeves or chance of escape this time, "Scanned by what, exactly? A box?" she questioned, frowning as she cast the Pandorica a quick look, "And why would you want to scan us, anyway?"

"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated," a Cyberman materialised across from the Daleks before two others materialised behind it, along with three Judoon and Sontarans.

"The Pandorica is ready," one of the Sontrarans agreed, marching forward, glaring at the Time Lords.

The Doctor swallowed, glancing around the room uneasily as three of each enemy that he and the Hatter had ever made appeared, wishing he could reach out and hold the Hatter's hand, if he could do little else, "Ready for what?" he asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Ready for you two," the white Dalek informed them, looking at them both.

Finally, the blinding white light from inside the Pandorica faded and the Time Lords could see that amidst the advance technology, there was two chairs within the box with very strong, metal restraints connected to them with nothing else inside the box. The Hatter's eyes widened in horror, realising what they were planning to do with herself and the Doctor.

The duplicated began to walk towards the Pandorica, practically dragging the Hatter along with them as she struggled, kicking and trying to dig her shoes into the ground, but it did nothing to slow the duplicates down as the ones holding the Doctor followed behind her, completely unaffected by the Doctor's own struggling and fighting, while their enemies watched them pass, victorious at last.

"Stop it!" the Hatter shouted as she was forced into the Pandorica, shoved forcibly down onto one of the seats. She desperately tried to claw and kick, but the duplicates remained unaffected, clamping the metal restraints over her wrists and ankles, another made its way around her waist, pinning her against the seat, as the last clamp came down over her shoulders. Beside her, the Doctor was forced into the second seat, clamped down in the same way that she had been, neither of them could even reach out to try and touch each other.

The duplicates stepped back as the final clamp came down onto the Doctor and Hatter, trapping them into their seats as they stared out of the opening of the box, defeated as they're enemies moved closer to see for themselves, opening gloating over their triumph over them. The Hatter couldn't say that she was surprised, she supposed it was always going to end this way, after all, fighting a common enemy could unit almost anyone, even the Daleks.

"You lot," the Doctor began after a moment, looking out over them all, "Working together, an alliance…" he shook his head in amazement, "How is that possible?"

"The cracks in the skin of the Universe," the Dalek said.

"All reality is threatened," the Sontaran replied.

"All Universes will be deleted," the Cyberman agreed.

"What?" the Doctor frowned, looking around at them, confused, "And…and you've come to us for help?"

"I don't think so, sweetheart," the Hatter breathed, swallowing thickly as she looked around at them all. They would never have built a prison like the Pandorica just to get their help, they wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to get them to this one place, this was about much more then help, "This isn't about help, this is about desperation and fear of…. _us_ ," she realised, feeling strangely startled.

"We will save the Universe from you!" the Sontaran shouted, glaring at them both.

"From _us_?" the Doctor said slowly, still very confused.

"All projections correlate," the Cyberman told them, "All evidence concurs. The Doctor and the Hatter will destroy the Universe".

"What?" the Hatter exclaimed, shaking her head frantically, "No, you don't understand, you're wrong!"

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the alliance".

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion," the Dalek continued.

"A trap the Doctor and Hatter could not resist," the Sontaran added, smirking at the Time Lords.

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor and Hatter," the Dalek announced as the Time Lords shook their heads helplessly, "It is confirmed".

"No, no, no," the Doctor shook his head quickly, looking around at them all, "Not me _or_ the Hatter, the _TARDIS_ ," he tried to pull against the clamps on his wrists, "And the Hatter and I aren't _in_ the TARDIS, are we?"

"Only the Doctor and Hatter can pilot the TARDIS," the Dalek stated, practically ignoring all other evidence suggesting otherwise.

"No, please just listen to us!" the Hatter cried desperately, almost feeling like sobbing with frustration.

"You will be prevented".

"Total event collapse!" the Doctor tried, frantically trying to get through to them, "Every sun will supernova at every moment in history!"

"The entire Universe will never have even existed!" the Time Lady called urgently, feeling herself starting to shake with all the emotions whirling around inside her, "Please, listen to us! For once in your lives, if there was ever a time to listen to us, now would be the time!"

"Seal the Pandorica," the Cyberman ordered, stepping forward, completely ignoring every word they said.

"No!" the Hatter screamed, starting to sob freely now, "Please, just listen to us, _please_!"

"The TARDIS is exploding right now and we're the only ones who can stop it!" the Doctor shouted desperately, "Listen to us!"

And the Pandorica slammed shut on them, sealing shut.

 _ **I've waited I long time to write this chapter and the next two. Poor Rory, Poor Doctor and Hatter, poor Amy, but at least the Time Lords are together in the end. Next chapter, the Doctor gets a fez, the Hatter has a minor breakdown over something River and Amy will do, and what is the Hatter's reaction to the fez? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest (1):**_ _ **Well, it's already established in the story that the Hatter's Father was very politically involved and a member of the High Council, so it is very likely that he would have been Lord President at one point, though, I doubt for very long. He would have preferred to work behind the scenes, but I can certainly imagine him becoming Lord President, therefore making it possible that the Doctor's line about running off with the President's daughter could apply…or, he could have been talking about Susan's Father. Either could be possible. Thanks for the review :)**_

 _ **Guest (2):**_ _ **Aww, I'm so pleased you think so, I've tried to find a way to balance out the Hatter's character with the Doctor's to try and find a way to match them, and yet not make the Hatter a female version of the Doctor. Oh, yes, very much so, but I can't say anything more on the subject. Spoilers!**_

 _ **I'm afraid that her children are gone, save for Jenny, so it could be possible for Jenny to one day come back, but her first four children are gone forever. And as for remembering them, I imagine that she would try to think about them as often as she could, as a way to still keep them alive, but sadly anything that she might have once had to remember them was lost on Gallifrey or in her TARDIS, so she might get something back when they finally get back to Gallifrey.**_

 _ **And what would they have thought of the Doctor? I think that they would have been happy that their Mother was happy with someone else, but the Hatter's relationship with her first four children were very complex. You have to remember that the Hatter hadn't seen her children since she first left Gallifrey in her First body, she only ever knew one of her grandchildren, so they really didn't know each other very well, but I would imagine that if they had survived the Time War, they would have wanted to have more contact with their Mother and try to repair their relationship.**_

 _ **Don't apologise, I love answering questions, they always make me think and try to word things to avoid giving things away. Thanks for the review :)**_


	25. Chapter 25 The Big Bang, Part 1

_**The Big Bang, Part 1**_

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said after a long moment of silence, unable to look at the Hatter's face as he forced his eyes to remain fixed on the blank, smooth surface of the inside of the Pandorica, feeling to ashamed and guilty to meet her eyes right now.

The Hatter's head snapped around to look at him, a frown crossing her face. Her tears had finally stopped falling, leaving her cheeks feeling annoyingly damp and it was even more annoying that she couldn't wipe them, not even against her shoulder, "Don't apologise, Doctor," she told him firmly, making him look at her in surprise. Oh, how she so wished that she could take his hand, "This isn't your fault, if anything it's both our fault," she sighed heavily, wishing she could move more than just her fingers and neck. What was she going to do if she got an itchy spot on her back? "We have both made countless enemies over our centuries of travelling, some for the same reasons, others for different ones," her voice grew angry, "But what _isn't_ our fault is that they are so blinded by hatred that they wouldn't be able to look at the facts and realise that we couldn't possibly be the ones to destroy the Universe".

"And now, we're stuck here," he tilted his head back, closing his eyes tightly, "Trapped in this box while the rest of the Universe is destroyed, unable to do anything".

Her anger faded slightly as she looked over to him, "At least we have each other, sweetheart," she reminded him softly, trying hard to stay positive. That was the one small mercy of this entire thing, they could still talk and look at each other. She didn't know what she would have done if they had been separated.

His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, breaking into a small smile, "Yeah, we do, don't we?" he said a bit brighter, seeing what she was trying to do, "We can still talk to each other".

"Exactly".

"We could tell stories to pass the time, talk about the old days…" his eyes lit up as an idea popped into his head, "We could even still play games".

The corner of the Hatter's mouth twitched, "Somehow I don't think Eye Spy will be one of them," she commented dryly, casting her eyes around the tiny, otherwise blank grey space.

Unable to help himself, the Doctor laughed and shook his head fondly, or as much as the clamps on his shoulders would allow him to, "Laughing until the end, dear?"

"Well, we are in a prison that we can't even escape from by dying, so I figure I might as well try and keep the humour going. Mind you, my material is very limited now".

"I promise to always laugh, no matter how repeated they might become".

Her eyes twinkled, and she gave him a cheeky wink, "I'll hold you to that, sweetheart".

Suddenly, there was a loud grinding sound around them and the Time Lords frowned, looking around in confusion as the wall before them began to slide open. The box was actually being opened, but that was impossible, only someone from the outside could open it and as far as they were aware, the Universe had ended right after they had been locked away, or at least, that's what they had calculated.

The restraints on their chairs began to realise them as they stared out through the growing gape, only to find Rory standing before them, holding a lit torch in one hand while the other aimed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver at the Pandorica. After a moment, the door opened completely and the last restrains around their waists popped open, but they still remained where they were, staring at Rory with wide and very confused eyes, unable to quite believe what had just happened.

"How did you do that?" the Doctor eventually asked, looking at Rory as if he had never seen him before.

"You gave me this," Rory replied, holding up the sonic screwdriver for them to see.

The Hatter, getting over her shock, stood and rubbed her wrist as she hopped out of the Pandorica, only just resisting jumping around a bit in her happiness to be free again, "I don't remember you doing that, Doctor," she said, frowning slightly, looking back and forth between the screwdriver in Rory's hand and over to the Doctor. She was positive he had it before they had been held hostage by the duplicate Roman soldiers.

"That's because I didn't," the Doctor informed them, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out his own sonic screwdriver, holding it up for them to see, too.

Rory gave them both an odd look, "You _did_ ," he insisted, waving the sonic in his hand around, "Look at it".

He slowly stepped out of the box and neared Rory, eyeing the sonic in his hand, before he cautiously held out his sonic to meet the one in Rory's hand, lighting touching the two together, causing them to spark violently, quickly pulling them away again.

"Oh, interesting," the Hatter nodded thoughtfully, having watched the scene curiously, her eyes lighting up in delight, "Temporal energy".

"Same screwdriver, at different points in its own time stream," the Doctor added, turning his screwdriver around in his hands, "Which means it was me who gave it to you," he looked back up to Rory, breaking into a smile, "Me from the future," he glanced at the Hatter, slipping his arm around her waist, his smile turning wider, happy to be able to touch her again, "I've got a future, that's nice".

"Both of you, actually," Rory cut in, looking between the Time Lords.

"Well, it is always nice to know that future me hasn't managed to get herself blown up," the Time Lady remarked, only half joking, though she did feel slightly tempted to warn Rory not to tell them to much more on the subject of their future selves, but she held herself back. That was just the strict Time Lady side of her coming out. Her jovial mood was short lived, however, as she caught sight of something over Rory's shoulder, "That, on the other hand, is less nice…" she sighed.

Rory turned around to see the remains of two petrified Daleks that had been turned to stone, while around the rest of the room, the remains of several Romans and other figures had been scattered around in a similar state. The Time Lords stepped closer to the Dalek, eyeing it closely.

"Yeah…" Rory said slowly, glancing at the Time Lords, unsure, "What are they?" he questioned.

"History has collapsed," the Doctor slipped his sonic back inside his blazer pocket, still eyeing the Dalek, "Whole races have been deleted from existence," he took the Hatter's hand as they started to walk amongst the rest of the remains, noticing the upper body of a Cyberman sticking up from the floor across from the Daleks, "These are just like after-images," he paused at one of the remains of the Roman duplicates, flicking its stone helmet, "Echoes, fossils in time. The footprints of the never wear".

He looked at them, confused, "Er, what does that mean?"

"Basically, it's a total event collapse," the Hatter sighed heavily, casting her eyes around sadly, though, not exactly for the loss of their enemies, but for all those innocent lives that had died because of it, "The Universe has _literally_ never happened".

"So, how can we be here? What's keeping us safe?"

"Nothing," the Doctor shook his head, still looking around, "Eye of the storm, that's all. We're just the last light to go out".

"Hang on…" the Time Lady frowned, slowly turning back around to face Rory, "Amy, where is she?" she asked, feeling a spark of concern as pain crossed Rory's face and he looked away from them.

….

Rory led them back upstairs and into Stonehenge, walking over to where a figure had been covered by a blanket on the ground. The Time Lords stepped over to it and knelt down, the Hatter taking a deep breath as she slowly reached out and lifted the blanket away to find that it was Amy, her eyes closed, looking quite peaceful.

"I killed her," Rory gasped, sounding horrified and tearful.

The Hatter sighed heavily, hanging her head, "Oh, Rory, I'm so sorry…"

"What am I?"

"You're a Nestene duplicate," the Doctor replied, looking up to him, "A lump of plastic with delusions of humanity," he turned back to Amy, flashing his sonic at her, scanning.

"But I'm Rory _now_ ," he insisted quickly, shaking his head, "Whatever was happening, it stopped. I'm Rory!"

The Doctor checked the results on his sonic, holding it out for the Hatter to see, "That's software talking," he said bluntly. The Hatter struggled to keep the smile off her face, seeing that there was still a chance left to bring Amy back.

"Can you help her?" he asked desperately, looking between the Time Lords, "Is there anything you can do?"

"Yeah, probably," he said indifferently, shrugging as he stood, slipping the sonic away in his pocket, "If we had the time".

Rory stared at them, unable to quite believe what he was hearing. The Hatter hadn't even bothered to give the Doctor a scolding look, both looking completely unconcerned, "The _time_?" he exclaimed.

"All of creation has just been wiped from the sky," the Doctor cast him a quick look, stepping over Amy's body, moving away from him as he continued, "Do you know how many lives now never happened? All the people who never lived?" he came to a stop with his back to Rory and the Hatter, scoffing, "Your _girlfriend_ isn't more important than the whole Universe".

Rory grabbed the Doctor's shoulder and spun him around, punching him right across his chin, knocking the Doctor onto the ground, making the Hatter wince, "She is to me!" he shouted furiously.

There was a brief pause before…the Doctor popped back up onto his feat, laughing, his hair mussed, "Welcome back, Rory Williams!" he cheered, spinning back around to face him and the Hatter, moving his mouth around, trying to crack his jaw, "Sorry, had to be sure," he reached out and patted Rory's shoulder, "Hell of a gun arm you're packing there".

"We really are sorry, Rory," the Hatter added, giving him a slightly guilty look, before casting the Doctor a mildly concerned one. Good thing Time Lords had such strong teeth, otherwise he could have very well have had a couple knocked out, "We just needed to make sure that it wasn't the programming still working," she sighed, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "We've had enough of that today, as it is. Now, are you okay, sweetheart?" she raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, placing a hand on his cheek.

"Of course I'm okay," the Doctor said brightly, sneakily kissing the palm of her hand, making her roll her eyes fondly at him. He flashed her a broad smile, "I'm always okay, dear".

She shook her head at him, amused, "Sure, sure," she muttered before growing serious once more, clapping her hands, "But that's beside the point, because right now we really need to get Amy downstairs".

The Doctor clicked his fingers at her and hurried over to Amy's body, throwing a look over his shoulder to Rory, who looked very, very confused, "And take that look off your plastic face," he called to him, "You're getting married in the morning!"

Together, Rory and the Doctor helped to carry Amy's limp body downstairs, while the Hatter followed close behind them, watching closely to make sure that they didn't end up knocking Amy's head against the narrow walls of the passageway. They made their way into the main chamber, making their way over to the Pandorica, where the Doctor carefully placed Amy in one of the chairs within the box, locking her arms into place.

Rory stood back by the doors of the box with the Hatter, eyeing the Time Lords, "So you've got a plan, then?" he questioned warily, still very confused as to what was going on now.

"Just a little one," the Hatter smiled slightly, glancing at him, "Mostly…no, but that's usually how we do our best work," she turned back to watch the Doctor as he gently grabbed Amy's head, lifting it up, placing his fingertips on her temples, "You see, memories are so much more powerful than most people give them credit. They are a link to our past and they help to shape our futures," her smile grew broader, "And Amy Pond is not just any ordinary girl. She's grown up with a time crack in her wall, the Universe pouring into her mind and dreams every night since she was a child".

"The Nestenes took a memory print of her and got more than they bargained for," the Doctor remarked, focusing on Amy's face, preparing to leave her a little message, "Like you. Not just your face, but your heart and your soul," he closed his eyes, concentrating.

"We're going to leave her a message," the Time Lady explained to Rory, seeing his confused frown as he watched the Doctor's back, "That way, she'll know exactly what's going on. Far less distressing and confusing for her that way".

The Doctor finished the message and let go of Amy's head, stepping back out of the box, flashing his sonic at it, sealing it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rory said hurriedly, his eyes widening as he watched the door of the Pandorica close on them, "What are you doing?" he demanded, looking at the Doctor.

"Saving her," the Doctor said calmly, slipping his sonic back inside his blazer, "This is the ultimate prison. You can't even escape by dying. It _forces_ you to stay alive".

He frowned, confused, "But she's already dead".

"Not _entirely_ ," the Hatter corrected lightly, smiling as she pattered Rory's arm, "The Pandorica will stasis lock her, safe and sound, until it can get a scan of her living DNA, which will restore her".

"Where's it going to get that?"

The Doctor checked his watch, "In about two thousand years," he answered.

"Now, where is River's bag," the Hatter commented cheerfully, clapping her hands, pretending not to notice the shocked look on Rory's face as she strolled passed him, when her eyes fell on the bag lying on the ground, "Ah!" she said loudly, skipping over to it and picking it up, quickly pulling out the Vortex Manipulator that she had noticed earlier. She tossed it to the Doctor, knowing how much he did so love to play with new toys, even if she could probably use it more smoothly then him.

Rory stared at them, his eyes wide, "She's going to be in the box for _two thousand_ years?" he exclaimed, watching as the Doctor strapped the device onto his wrist.

"Yeah, but we're taking a shortcut," the Doctor informed him, shrugging as he held up his wrist for Rory to see the device clearly, "River's Vortex Manipulator," he shook his head, making a slight face, "Rubbish way to travel, but the Universe is tiny now. We'll be fine".

"So the future's still there, then?" he asked, sounding quite hopeful, "Our world?"

"Well, more like a similar version of it," the Time Lady said, shrugging, "Bits and pieces will be the same, but it won't be the same Earth that you remember".

"Earth alone in the sky," the Doctor remarked, finishing strapping the device onto his wrist, looking back up to them, "Let's go and have a look," he held out his wrist with the device on it for the Hatter, who happily placed her hand on it, feeling quite curious to see just how this new version differed from their own. He turned to Rory, "You put your hand there," he nodded to the device, "Don't worry, should be safe".

"That's not what I'm worried about," Rory shook his head, turning back to the Pandorica.

The Hatter gave him a comforting smile, "She will be fine in there, Rory, I promise," she assured him gently, seeing how concerned he was for Amy, " _Nothing_ can get inside that box".

"You two got in there," he argued, glancing back over to them.

"Well, that's us," she replied, still giving him a comforting smile, "And the first time wasn't exactly on purpose".

"This box needs a guard," he sighed, not seeming to be really paying attention as he focused back on the box, "I killed the last one".

"No," the Doctor shook his head at once, turning away from him, "No, Rory. Don't even think about it".

"She'll be all alone".

"She won't _feel_ it," he tried to tell him.

"You bet she won't!"

He turned back to him, "Two thousand years, Rory," he reminded him, "You won't even sleep, you'd be conscious every second. It would drive you _mad_ ".

"Will she be safer if I stay?" Rory asked, looking between both Time Lords, who both sighed, "Look me in the eye and tell me she wouldn't be safer".

The Doctor sighed heavily, looking away from him, "Rory…" he began.

"Answer me!"

"Yes," the Hatter nodded quickly, not wanting to see the Doctor get punched again, giving Rory a small smile, "Of course she would be".

He turned back to the Pandorica, shaking his head, "Then how could I leave her?"

The Doctor laughed softly, caught between fondness and exasperation, "Why do you have to be so….human?"

"Because right now, I'm not," he said simply, and stepped closer to the Pandorica.

"You've spent too much time around the Hatter," he mock complained, shooting the Hatter a pointed look, recalling a very similar statement that she had given him when she had been about to regenerate.

The Hatter laughed, lightly nudging the Doctor's side, "Oh, please," she rolled her eyes fondly at him, "As if you wouldn't be doing the same thing if I was in Amy's shoes," she raised her eyebrows at him, "You can't honestly tell me you would even think about leaving me for a second if it meant I would be safer?"

The Doctor smiled softly, taking her free hand and lightly placing a kiss on the back of it, "Never," he agreed at once, knowing very well that if the roles had been reversed, he would stay behind, even if he knew that the Hatter would be very upset with him for doing so. She hated feeling helpless and him staying behind to protect her would only make that worse. Still, her safety and wellbeing meant more to him then whether she was angry at him, even if she could be very scary.

He shook his head and began tapping buttons onto the Manipulator, setting the coordinates, "Listen to us," he called to Rory, catching his attention, "This is the last bit of advice you're going to get in a very long time. You're living plastic, but _not_ immortal," he glanced at the Hatter, "We have no idea how long you'll last".

"And you are far from being indestructible," the Hatter added, fixing Rory with a very serious look, "You are stronger than a human, but you will really have to stay away from heat and radio signals when they are discovered".

"You can't heal, or repair yourself," the Doctor continued, still pressing in commands into the device as Rory put his helmet on, listening carefully, "Any damage is permanent," he looked back up to him, "So, for God's sake, however bored you get, stay out of…"

And the Time Lords disappeared in a flash of blue engine, reappearing a second later in the middle of the Pandorica Room in the British National Museum, 1993, standing in the middle of a darkened hallway that was lined with several exhibits with stuffed animals set up on display. The moment they landed, the Hatter groaned and doubled over, putting her hands on her knees, turning sickly pale.

"…trouble!" the Doctor finished, before quickly turning to the Hatter, looking very concerned, "Hatter, what is it?"

"Nothing," she waved him off, straightening with a grimace, "I don't think I've recovered quite as well after my little drug induced nap as I had first thought…" she trailed off her, eyes widening in alarm at something over his shoulder, urgently grabbing the Doctor's, "Doctor, look!"

He spun back around, only to find a partly restored Dalek moving towards them from down the hall, "Oh!" he exclaimed, pulling the Time Lady closer to him as they both looked behind them, spotting Amy and her younger self standing together in the doorway of the Pandorica's main exhibit, Amy standing in front of her younger self protectively, "Two of you? Complicated! " he looked quickly between them, pleased to see that there plan had worked so far.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek cried, catching their attention. The Time Lords backed away, eyeing it as they moved closer to the two Amy's, "Weapons systems restoring".

The Hatter dashed over to little Amelia, grabbing her hand, flashing her a comforting smile, while the Doctor grabbed adult Amy's hand, starting to pull them away, "Come along, Ponds!" he called as they made a run around the room and behind the Pandorica.

"Exterminate!"

They ran around the back of the Pandorica, the Time Lords coming to a stop in front of an alcove display of North Africa. The Doctor let go of Amy and practically stumbled into the display, almost knocking over one of the mannequins wearing a fez in the process.

"What are we doing?" Amy asked quickly, glancing at the Hatter, who looked just as confused as her as to what the Doctor was up to playing around in a display.

The Doctor managed to catch the mannequin before it fell, catching the fez as it toppled off its head, whirling back around to face them as he stepped out of the display, fez still in hand, "Running into a dead end, where I or the Hatter will have a brilliant plan, that basically involves not being in one," he replied, talking fast as he looked around.

"Preferably quickly," the Hatter added, tightening her grasp on Amelia's hand, giving the little girl a smile. It really did amaze her just how well children tended to handle situations like this when grown adults would have been panicking by now.

"What's going on?" a voice suddenly called from the other end of the room.

The Time Lords hurried to peer around the edge of the Pandorica to see a night watchman enter the room, holding a flashlight out at the Dalek.

"No, just get out of here!" the Time Lady shouted urgently to the man, her eyes widening in alarm, seeing the Dalek start to spin around to face the watchman, "Go, now!"

"Go!" the Doctor urged loudly, "Just run!"

The Dalek swivelled to face the watchman as the man completely ignored the Time Lords, "Drop the device," it ordered the man, mistaking the torch for a gun.

"It's not a weapon!" the Hatter called to the Dalek, realising its mistake, "Just scan it, see for yourself! It's not a weapon, and you certainly don't have power to just go wasting!" she cast her eyes over the Dalek's only partly restored casing.

"Scans indicate intruder unarmed".

"Do you think?" the man asked, almost sounding smug as he dropped the torch on the floor. His hand fell open to reveal a gun sticking out from where his fingers should have been, and he fired at the Dalek's eyestalk, hitting it dead on.

"Vision impaired!" the Dalek cried out, its head swivelling around widely as sparks flew everywhere. The Time Lords blinked, exchanging a look as they watched the scene unfold, "Vision…"

The watchman stepped forward and out of the shadows, moving into the light to reveal himself to be Rory. He watched as the Dalek powered down, its energy draining from attempting to restore the damage done to its vision system. The Doctor and the Hatter ran out from behind the Pandorica, the Doctor flashing his sonic at the Dalek, while Amy and Amelia hurried behind them, Amelia still clutching onto the Time Lady's hand.

"Amy?" Rory gasped, catching sight of her behind the Time Lords.

Amy stopped suddenly in the doorway, staring at Rory as if she couldn't quite believe he was there, "Rory!" she breathed, taking off running for him, practically jumping into his arms as she reached him, hugging him desperately.

"I'm sorry," Rory breathed, pulling back to see her face, sounding close to tears, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It just happened…"

"Oh, shut up," she cut across him, kissing him deeply.

The Doctor jogged over to them, looking between them as the Hatter led Amelia closer to the pair, a soft smile spreading across the brunet's face, "Yeah, shut up, 'cos we've got to go," he agreed, rolling his eyes at the couple, almost looking like an annoyed child, "Come on!"

"I waited," Rory told Amy as they pulled apart once more, completely ignoring the Doctor, "Two thousand years, I waited for you".

"No, still shut up," Amy shook her head, pulling him back in for another long kiss.

The Doctor blinked at them, eyeing them with an odd look, "And break," he tried, frowning deeply, almost starting to grow concerned with just how long the kiss was lasting, and neither of them had a respiratory bypass system, "And breathe!" he called a bit louder, making the Hatter laugh, shaking her head fondly as he glanced over to her, "Well, somebody didn't get out much for two thousand years".

"Oh, hush," the Hatter scolded him lightly, still looking amused, "They've waited two thousand years to be together again, you are _not_ ruining the moment now, sweetheart".

Amelia tugged on the Hatter's jacket sleeve, looking up to her, catching both Time Lords attention, "I'm thirsty," she said, seeming to be completely unconcerned by everything going on around her, "Can I get a drink?"

"Oh, it's all mouths today, isn't it?" the Doctor mock grumbled, exchanging a playful look with the Time Lady as he put the fez on top of Amelia's head, only it was just a bit too big for her and fell below her eyes. Amelia smiled and pulled the fez off, shoving it back to him as he absently took it, looking back over to the Dalek with a thoughtful expression.

The Hatter laughed and bent down so that she was level with the girl, "We'll find something in a moment, okay?" she assured her, and Amelia nodded.

"The light!" the Doctor said slowly, drawing the Hatter's attention over to the Dalek where light from the open Pandorica's door was spilling out, hitting the Dalek's back, "The light from the Pandorica, it must have hit the Dalek," he realised.

"And restored it…" the Time Lady trailed off, her eyes widening as she noticed the Dalek's weapon start to twitch. Immediately, she grabbed Amelia and pulled her behind her, "Everyone out!" she shouted, starting to usher the girl out of the room, finally making Amy and Rory break apart, "Out, out!"

They all ran for the door, the Doctor grabbing Amelia's other hand as he and the Time Lady ran together with the little girl between them. They made it outside into a large, high ceiled room with a marble staircase leading off it and Rory quickly shut the doors of the room, trying to block the Dalek inside, and locked it with his watchman keys, the Doctor flashing his sonic at the lock, just to make it harder.

"So, two thousand years," the Doctor commented to Rory, finishing with the lock, slipping the sonic away inside his pocket, "How did you do?"

"Kept out of trouble," Rory replied, shrugging.

"Oh…" he nodded, before pausing, realising that he still had the fez. He glanced at it for a moment, throwing the Hatter a questioning look, who grinned and nodding encouragingly. He grinned, popping the hat onto his head, "What do you think, dear?" he held out his arms to the Time Lady.

"Well, it's not a top hat…" the Hatter remarked, thinking of their wedding when she had managed to get him to wear a top hat, breaking into a wide smile as she stepped over to him, kissing his cheek, "But I do think you pull it off wonderfully, sweetheart," she lowered her voice, leaning closer to his ear, "It's _very_ cool," the Doctor blushed at her tone, making a mental note to really wear hats more often around her as she turned back to face Rory, somehow managing to hide her own amusement, knowing what effect she had just had on the Doctor, "How did you manage to stay out of trouble?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Unsuccessfully," Rory said, the corner of his mouth twitching. The brunet laughed as the Doctor spotted a mop leaning against the wall and grabbed it, heading back towards the door to use it to block it, "The mop!" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the Doctor, who stopped quickly, waving the mop around, "That's how you looked all those years ago when you gave me the sonic," he explained to them.

"Ah!" the Doctor smiled, tucking the mop under his arm, "Well, no time to lose then," he held out his arm to the Hatter, who quickly placed her hand over the Manipulator, just as he activated it and they disappeared together.

The Time Lords appeared again, this time in the past and standing a short distance away from Stonehenge where Rory was slumped on the ground, cradling Amy's limp body in his lap. He looked up, startled to see the Doctor standing before him with a mop under his arm and a bright red fez on his head, while the Hatter looked paler then normal and seemed to be grimacing.

"Oh, I really hate bouncing through time," the Time Lady muttered, inhaling the cool night air to try and make the sickly feeling fade faster. It wasn't quite as bad as the first they had used the Vortex Manipulator, but still quite unpleasant. This regeneration really was shaping up to be far more sensitive than her previous regenerations.

"Rory!" the Doctor called brightly, catching sight of the man on the ground, "Listen, she's not dead".

"Well, actually, she kind of is…" the Time Lady cut in, trailing off slightly as Rory stared at them, opened mouthed, "But she's not _permanently_ dead," she sighed, almost cringing at just how badly she was trying to explain to him without _actually_ explaining to him what was going on, "Sorry, I know it's confusing".

"Oh, and it's not the end of the world," the Doctor added, before pausing, "Well, it is the end of the world. Actually, it's the end of the Universe," he caught sight of the mop in his hand, quickly looking over to the Time Lady.

"Ah, not good," the brunet sighed, eyeing the mop warily.

"Hang on!" he told Rory, quickly tapping coordinates into the Manipulator, and activated the device. He and the Hatter disappeared in a crackle of engine, reappearing moments later back in the museum with Amy, future Rory, and little Amelia, "Oops, sorry," he said hurriedly to them, dashing over to the door, using the mop to block it off.

"How are they doing that?" Amelia asked, amazed, looking to her older self, "Are they magic?"

The Hatter grinned at the little girl as the Doctor moved back to her side, setting the coordinates back in, "Well, someone had to teach Glinda the Good Witch of Oz, didn't they?" she commented playfully, giving Amelia a wink. She just couldn't help herself.

The Doctor activated the device and they disappeared once more, appearing before past Rory, startling him again, this time without the mop, "You need to get us out of the Pandorica," he said to him, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out the sonic screwdriver.

Rory looked between them, very confused, "But you're not in the Pandorica," he pointed out, shaking his head at them.

"Well, actually, we are in your current position in your time line," the Hatter informed him, knowing that she was probably only making the poor man even more confused.

"But we're not now, but we were back then," the Doctor added, gesturing to himself and the Hatter with his screwdriver, making it even worse, "Like the Hatter said, back now from your point of view, which is back then from _our_ point of view," he shook his head as Rory opened and closed his mouth, hardly understanding a word of what he was trying to say.

"Time travel, it's impossible to keep it straight in your head," the Time Lady remarked, sighing slightly.

The Doctor held up the sonic screwdriver for Rory to see, "It's easy to open from the outside…just point and press," he instructed him, stepping over to him, handing him the screwdriver, "Now go".

And with that, the Time Lords activated the manipulator and disappeared, reappearing before Amelia, Amy, and future Rory. The Hatter sighed heavily and closed her eyes briefly, "Okay, I think I need a little break from bouncing back and forth through time for a little while," she muttered, feeling quite sickly now.

The Doctor rubbed her back soothingly before taking her hand, "Right, let's go, then," he began to lead the way up the stairs, the others following close behind him, "Wait!" he called, stopping suddenly, holding up a finger as he turned back around to face them, "Now I don't have the sonic, I just gave it to Rory two thousand years ago," he held out his arm towards the Hatter.

The Hatter shook her head quickly, taking a step back, "It's your sonic screwdriver, sweetheart".

He pouted slightly at her and sighed, resigned. He tapped on the manipulator and disappeared in a flash of blue engine, before reappearing a moment later right beside the Time Lady, "Right then," he smiled slightly, stepping down to Amy and awkwardly pulling her jacket open, reaching inside her top pocket, withdrawing his sonic screwdriver, "Off we go!" he turned to ran back up the stairs.

"Wait a moment!" the Time Lady said quickly, frowning slightly as she looked back down to little Amelia, "How did you know to come here?" she asked her, jogging down the steps to reach the girl, bending down so that they were eye level.

Amelia reached inside her pocket of her coat and pulled out a museum pamphlet with a picture of the Pandorica that had been circled in red pen, along with a small sticky note with the words, 'Come Along, Pond' scribbled across it and another sticky note with, 'Stick Around Pond'.

The Hatter took the notes and pamphlet, recognising the handwriting instantly, "Ah, of course," she smiled slightly, turning to the Doctor, handing the pieces of paper to him, "It's your handwriting, sweetheart".

The Doctor looked them over quickly, breaking into a broad smile, "Okay!" he tossed the paper over his shoulder, dashing down the stairs and over to where a shelf was with stacks of pamphlets, grabbing one, before running over to a table with more pamphlets and sticky notes sitting on it, grabbing the pad of notes. He quickly jotted down the messages, moving to activate the Manipulator.

"Don't forget to get Amelia a drink," the Hatter reminded him quickly, wondering herself where he was supposed to get a drink, but she knew him and didn't doubt for a moment that he would be able to find something.

He nodded, giving her one last smile before he tapped the device on his wrist, disappearing once more in a flash of energy. They only had to wait for a moment before he appeared again in front of Amelia, holding a large drink in his hand that he handed to the girl, "There you go, drink up!" he told her, moving passed her as she happily took a sip of her drink. He jogged back up the stairs to join the Time Lady, taking her hand.

"What is that?" Amy frowned at the Doctor, eyeing his wrist, "How are you doing that?"

"It's called a Vortex Manipulator," the Hatter informed her, shaking her head, "It's a rather unpleasant way of time travel, but then again, I am a Time Lady," she shrugged, "I do have a rather high standard when it comes to time travel".

"Very bad for you," the Doctor remarked, glancing down at the device on his wrist, "We're trying to give it up…" the Time Lady cleared her throat, giving him a pointed look, "Sorry, dear. _I'm_ trying to give it up," he corrected.

Amy shook her head at them, "Where are we going?" she asked.

"The roof," he replied, taking the Hatter's hand as they made to continue up the stairs, only to stop short at a crackle of energy, their eyes widening.

Another Doctor and Hatter had appeared at the top of the stairs, clutching onto each other as if they could barely stand, both of them looking quite worse for wear as the other Doctor's blazer was smoking slightly with badly frayed patches and burn marks, a cut running across his cheek, while the other Hatter's tights had been ripped on her knees, her hat was missing, and she had a bleeding cut on her lip. Just like the other Doctor, her clothing was covered in burn and frayed patches, smoking slightly in places. Slowly, the future Doctor stumbled, the future Hatter's knees giving way beneath her as it seemed that the Doctor could no longer hold himself up and he toppled forward, still holding the future Hatter in his arms, falling down the stairs together to land at the current Time Lords feet, both unconscious in each other's arms.

The present Doctor and Hatter felt all the colour drain from their faces and their hearts skip a beat, staring down at their future selves in such a terrible state. They exchanged a look and rushed forward, the Doctor running his sonic over the other two, scanning them as the Hatter checked them over, trying to work out exactly what could have caused this to have happened to them.

"It's you!" Rory gasped, staring at the two figure on the floor, shocked, "It's both of you," he shook his head, quickly looking back up to the current Time Lords, "How can it be you two?"

The Doctor finished his scan and reached out, tucking a strand of frizzy hair away from the future Hatter's pale face, before moving his own future selves head gently to the side. The Hatter took both of their future versions hands, holding them tightly as she felt her hearts break at the sight before her, just the way that the future Doctor had held her future self even while he was falling down the stairs made her want to cry.

" _Is_ that you?" Amy questioned softly, sounding very worried as she stood back with Rory, watching the two lean over their future selves.

"Yeah, it's us," the Doctor confirmed, his voice sounding oddly distant to his ears. He couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the future Hatter's pale face.

"Or, at least a future version of us," the Hatter breathed, still feeling quite shocked by what had just happened.

Suddenly, the future Doctor's eyes snapped open and he quickly sat upright before anyone had time react, grabbing the Doctor's coat and the Hatter's jacket, pulling them closer to him as he started whispering frantically into their ears. They listened intently to everything he said as his hold on them grew weak before disappearing completely as he fell back onto the floor, his eyes closing once more. The Time Lords exchanged a look, both thinking very carefully about what they had just been told.

"Are you…" Amy began, swallowing hard, "I mean, are they…" she tried again, finding it hard to get the words out, "Are they dead?"

"What?" the Doctor said blankly, giving himself a sharp shake as he helped the Hatter climb onto her feet, both turning to face Amy and Rory, very distracted, "Dead?" he repeated, glancing back down to the two bodies at his feet, "Yes, yes. Of course they're dead," he took the Hatter's hand and they stepped over their future bodies, moving to continue up the stairs, "Right, we've got twelve minutes, that's good".

Amy's head snapped up to them, "Twelve minutes to live?" she stared at them as if they had gone insane, "How is that good?"

"Oh, you can do so much in twelve minutes…" the Hatter commented, sounding quite cheerful as they reached the top of the landing, turning back around to look down to them.

"Suck a mint," the Doctor agreed, starting to list them off, "Buy a sledge, have a fast bath…"

"It's not about the _amount_ of time, Amy, but what you _do_ with it," the Time Lady smiled at her, unconcerned about the fact that they only had twelve minutes left to live, she was more annoyed that she hadn't been able to die with her hat on.

He nodded, starting to turn away again, "Come on, the roof!" he called back to them over his shoulder.

"We can't just leave you two here, dead!" Rory argued, frowning after them.

He spun back around, not in the mood to waste time chatting when they ought to have been getting up to the roof, "Oh, good!" he said sarcastically, fixing Rory with a raised eyebrow, "Are you in charge now? So, tell me, what are we going to do about Amelia?"

Rory and Amy whirled around, only to find that Amelia was nowhere in sight and her cup was lying on the floor.

"Where did she go?" Amy asked, looking around quickly.

Rory jogged back down the steps, looking around urgently, "Amelia?" he shouted, his voice echoing off the stone walls around them.

"Amelia no longer exists," the Hatter informed them, feeling quite sad see the little girl had disappeared, "From this point onwards, she was never even born," she sighed heavily, shaking her head, "History is still collapsing, remember?"

Amy stepped up the stairs towards them, frowning deeply, "How can _I_ be here, if _she's_ not?" she frowned.

"You're an anomaly," the Doctor explained, looking around at them all, "We all are. We're hanging on at the eye of the storm, but the eye is closing, and if we don't do something, reality will never have happened," he held up a finger to the humans, "Today, just dying is a result. Now, come on!"

And with the, the Time Lords turned and started walking off, needing to get to the roof.

"Come along, you two!" the Hatter called sternly back over her shoulder, realising that Rory and Amy hadn't followed yet, "We have work to do!"

Amy and Rory hurried up the stairs after the Time Lords, managing to quickly catch up with them as they located a door with the words, 'Roof Access' written across it on a plaque. The Doctor flashed his sonic at the lock and threw the door open onto a stairwell that they quickly made their way up, the Time Lady going last in her skirt. She might have been positive that her tights would save her from any embarrassment, but that still didn't make her feel happy about the idea of testing it.

The Doctor unlocked a small trap door at the top of the stairs and climbed out onto the roof, just as dawn was breaking, casting a pinkish, orange glow over the sky. The other three followed behind him, climbing out onto the roof as the Time Lords immediately caught sight of something in the sky, heading across the roof towards it to get a closer look.

"What, its morning already?" Amy frowned, looking around, startled, "How did that happen?"

"History is shrinking," the Doctor replied, sighing slightly in annoyance as he glanced at the Hatter, "Is anyone listening to us?" he spun back around, noticing a satellite dish a short distance away, hurrying over to it, just as the humans moved to the Time Lady's side, "We don't have much time left," he flashed his sonic at the dish.

Rory watched the Doctor, "What are you doing?" he questioned.

"Well, we have to find the TARDIS, don't we?" the Hatter remarked, shrugging.

"But the TARDIS _exploded_ ," he reminded them, confused.

"Okay, then," the Doctor said, unconcerned as he grabbed the pole that the dish was connected to, trying to pull it up from its mounting, "We're looking for an _exploding_ TARDIS," he managed to force the dish from the mounting, making it spark as a cable broke, and hopped down to hurry over the Hatter.

Amy shook her head at them, looking just as confused as Rory, "I don't understand," she frowned at them, watching them as they jumped up onto a raised section of the roof, looking out into the distance, "So, the TARDIS blew up and took the Universe with it," she said, "Why would it do that? How?"

"That is an excellent question, Amy," the Hatter gave her a quick smile over her shoulder, before turning back to look into the distance at something, "However, right now we have slightly more pressing concerns".

The Doctor nodded in agreement, turning around to face them, "Total event collapse means that every star in the Universe never happened," he called down to them, "Not one of them ever shone".

"Which is why it is so curious to find that," the Time Lady added, and turned around to point up at the sky where a large ball of swirling fire was in the sky, lighting up the sky, just as the sun should have been. She sighed slightly sadly as she eyed the ball of fire, squinting her eyes off its glare as Amy and Rory followed her gaze, "We did say that we were looking for an exploding TARDIS".

Rory eyed them, holding out his arms, "But that's the sun," he argued.

"Is it?" the Doctor raised his eyebrows back to them, "Well, here's the noise that sun is making right now…" he held up the satellite dish, aiming it directly at the ball of fire as he soniced the dish, amplifying the sound that they could all hear the wheezing and grinding of the TARDIS engines, "That's our TARDIS burning up," he said sadly, and the Hatter put a hand on his arm, feeling her own hearts breaking at the idea. She could only imagine how painful it would be for him, "That's what's been keeping the Earth warm," he realised.

"Doctor, Hatter, there's something else," Rory told them after a moment, seeming to be trying to listen closely to something, "There's a voice".

The Time Lords exchanged a look and the Doctor adjusted the settings on the screwdriver, flashing it at the dish once more, increasing the volume.

Amy eyed Rory, frowning, "I can't hear anything," she commented.

He pointed up to his ear, "Trust the plastic".

They listened closely as over the sound of the wheezing, came a women's voice, "I'm sorry, my loves," she said quietly, playing over and over again.

"That's River!" Amy gasped, her eyes widening as she recognised the voice instantly. She looked over to the Time Lords, "How can she be up there?"

"It must be like a recording or something," Rory frowned, listening.

"No, it's not," the Hatter shook her head, sighing heavily as she glanced at the Doctor, "The emergency protocols. The TARDIS would have sealed off the console room and put her into a time loop to try saving her".

The Doctor lowered the dish and sonic, grabbing the Hatter's hand, "She's right in the heart of the explosion," he agreed worriedly.

The Time Lady meet his eyes, the corner of her mouth twitching, "Well then, we are just going to have to save her, aren't we, sweetheart?" she grinned cheekily at him, her eyes moving down to rest on his wrist.

He broke into a wide smile and quickly started taping in coordinates into the Manipulator, before pausing, "I thought you had enough 'bouncing through time?'" he raised his eyes at her.

She shrugged, "I'm willing to make an exception for River".

"But not for my sonic screwdriver?"

"I can always build you a new one of those, I can hardly build another River Song. Now, stop fussing and get on with it, sweetheart".

The brunet placed her hand on top of the device, just as he hit the final button, activating it. They disappeared in a flash of blue energy and appeared a moment later in front of the closed doors in the TARDIS console room, causally leaning against the doorframe as River came running down the steps from the console as it sparked violently behind her, stopping short as she caught sight of them.

"We're home," the Doctor smirked slightly at River

"Sorry, darling, traffic was terrible," the Hatter added, flashing a grin at River, winking.

River gave them a mock annoyed look, pretending to check her watch, "And what time do you call this?"

The brunet laughed, shaking her head as River returned the smile and quickly moved to join them, placing her hand on the Manipulator, disappearing in a flash and reappearing back on the roof top before Amy and Rory.

"Amy!" River called, relieved to see that the girl was alright, making them turn to face them. Her eyes came to land on Rory, frowning slightly warily, "And the plastic Centurion?" she glanced at the Time Lords.

"Oh, this is Rory," the Time Lady introduced him, realising that she probably hadn't meet him properly yet, smiling, "Don't worry, he's a friend and on our side".

"Really?" she raised her eyebrows, looking surprised.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded.

She turned back to look at Rory curiously, "I dated a Nestene duplicate once…swappable head, it did keep things fresh," she remarked, and Amy raised her eyebrows, glancing at Rory, "Right then, I have questions," she grew more serious, "But number one is this…what in the name of sanity have you got on your head?" she turned to face the Doctor.

"It's a fez," he shrugged, exchanging a smile with the Hatter, "I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool, even the Hatter said so!"

River rolled her eyes fondly, "The Hatter loves all hats".

"That's not true!" the Hatter cut in quickly, reaching up to adjust her own hat, "The Time Lords had rubbish taste in hats".

She shook her head and looked across to Amy, who broke into a small smile and suddenly snatched the fez off the Doctor's head, completely ignoring his cry of surprise, tossing it into the sky. River pulled out her gun and easily shot it, sending bits of fabric flying as it was completely destroyed.

"River!" the Time Lady gasped, looking completely appalled and horrified, grabbing at the Doctor's arm as if she was about to collapses, "Amy, how could you?" she shook her head, looking at them as if they had terribly offended her, "You just…that was…!"

River eyed her thoughtfully, looking as if she was trying hard not to burst out laughing, "Oh, dear," she sighed sadly, "I think I've broken her".

Amy and Rory laughed, while the Doctor mournfully pulled the Hatter's closer to him, rubbing her back soothingly. Oh, the Hatter did so hate to see a good hat meet an unpleasant end, he remembered she practically went into mourning when one of her own hats fell into quicksand. For a moment he had been worried she was going to jump in after it, her own life be damned.

"Exterminate!" a loud cry broke through the air, making them all freeze as the Dalek appeared, levitating up the side of the building.

"Run, run, move, move!" the Doctor shouted, quickly starting to usher them away from the Dalek and across the room, grabbing the Hatter's hand, "Go!" he ordered, grabbing the satellite dish off the ground.

"Come on!" Rory called, trying to urge Amy and River to run faster back across to the trapdoor they had climbed up through.

The Doctor held the dish up in front of him, using it like a shield to try and buy the others more time as he and the Hatter quickly ran backwards, the Time Lady pulling him along so that he wouldn't trip over anything, while the Dalek began shooting, hitting the dish. They managed to make it back to the trap door, Amy and Rory climbing down first, followed by River, and last the Hatter and the Doctor, slamming the door shut behind them, just as the Dalek fired another shot that sparked violently off the door.

The Doctor quickly flashed his sonic at the door, sealing it as River stood beneath them, aiming her gun up at the door, just in case, "Doctor, Hatter, come on," she tried to tell them, her voice tense.

"Shh," he hissed back down to her, pausing in his sonicing as he listened, hearing a faint bump on the outside of the door, but silence soon fell.

The Hatter carefully tightened her hold on the ladder railing, pressing her ear against the surface of the cool metal door, "I can't hear anything," she said softly, listening closely, "It will have moved away to try and find another way inside," she reasoned, opening her eyes and starting to climb back down the ladder to join Amy, Rory, and River. The Doctor followed suit, slipping his sonic back inside his pocket, "It will need time, though, to restore its power before it can try attacking again".

"Now, that means we're got exactly…" the Doctor jumped the last few steps, landing beside the brunet, checking his watch, his eyes widening slightly, "…four and a half minutes before it's at lethal capacity," he took the Hatter's hand, jogging down the stairs passed the humans.

Rory frowned after them as they followed behind them, "How do you know?" he asked them.

The Time Lady sighed grimly, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "Because in four and a half minutes is when it's due to kill us," she replied, pausing to glance back to them briefly.

 _ **Ooh, I can't wait to see who the new companion is going to be. I am so excited, but at the same time I kind of miss Clara. Why does Doctor Who have to be so painful bringing in new characters all the time? Oh well, at least it keeps things fresh.**_

 _ **Next chapter, dancing, the Hatter hates the sound of her own voice, and we get the Hatter's dreaded 'death traps' back. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	26. Chapter 26 The Big Bang Two, Part 2

_**The Big Bang Two, Part 2**_

"Kill you?" River exclaimed, her eyes widening in alarm as they hurried after the Time Lords down the stairs, "What do you mean, _kill you_?"

"Oh, shut up, never mind," the Doctor called back to her, waving her off as they reached the bottom the stairs, setting off down a long corridor, "How can that Dalek even exist?" he wondered aloud, looking at the Hatter, "It was erased from time and then it came back. How?" he shook his head.

"You said the light from the Pandorica…" Rory began.

"Ah, but it's not _really_ a light," the Hatter remarked lightly, glancing back over her shoulder to him, "It's actually a restoration field…"

"But never mind," the Doctor cut in, sighing slightly as they made their way through a dinosaur exhibit with large bones on display around the room, "Call it a light. That light brought Amy back, but how could it bring back a Dalek when the Daleks have _never_ existed?" he came to a stop, frowning.

"Okay, tell us," Amy said, looking between both Time Lords.

The Doctor looked to the Hatter, raising an eyebrow at her, and she sighed, "It comes back to the TARDIS exploding," the Time Lady told them, turning around to face them, trying to think of a way to explain without confusing Amy, Rory, and possibly River, "When the TARDIS blew up, it caused a total event collapse, yes?" the humans nodded, and she continued, "In other words, a time explosion that blasted every atom in every moment throughout the Universe. Except…" she paused, raising her eyebrows encouragingly at the humans.

"Except in the Pandorica…" Amy realised slowly, feeling as if she was back in school again, having to answer a teachers question in the middle of class.

"The perfect prison," the Doctor nodded, smiling slightly, his eyes lighting up, "And inside it, perfectly preserved, a few billion atoms of the Universe as it was. In theory, you could extrapolate the whole Universe from a single one of them, like…like cloning a body from a single cell," he pointed to them, "And we've got the bumper family pack".

Rory sighed, shaking his head, "No, no, too fast, I'm not getting it".

"Think about it like this, the Pandorica holds a memory of the Universe as we knew it, and the _light_ helps to transmit that memory," the Hatter tried to explain, breaking into a broad smile as she looked to the Doctor, "And that is exactly what we are going to do".

"Do what?" Amy frowned at them.

"Relight the fire," the Doctor answered, taking the Hatter's hand, "Reboot the Universe. Come on!"

The Time Lords turned and strolled off, leaving Amy and Rory to exchange a look before following. River ran ahead and after the Time Lords, managing to catch up to them, "You're being completely ridiculous," she shook her head at them, sounding exasperated as they made their way out of the room and down another hallway, "The Pandorica _partially_ restored _one_ Dalek," she scoffed, "If it can't even reboot a single life form properly, how will it reboot the _whole_ of reality?"

The Hatter paused, turning around to face her, "What if we were give it a moment, just a moment of infinite power?" she raised her eyebrows, smiling broadly, "What if we could transmit the restoration field from the Pandorica to every particle throughout space and time at the exact same moment?"

She rolled her eyes at them, "Well, that would be lovely, dear, but we can't, because it's completely _impossible_ ".

"Ah, no, you see, it's not," the Doctor corrected, grinning as he tapped River's forehead, exchanging a look with the Hatter, "It's _almost_ completely impossible".

"We just need one small spark to set it off," the Hatter agreed, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"For what?"

The Doctor leaned closer to her, "Bing Bang Two!" he whispered, looking just as excited as the Time Lady, "Now, listen…"

The Hatter's eyes widened as she began to turn, only to find the Dalek moving towards them from the hallway, "Doctor!" she cried out, throwing herself behind him.

He whirled around, just in time to see the Dalek's laser shoot across her chest, feeling his hearts skip a beat as terror and horror gripped him. He grabbed her shoulders as her knees began to give way, cradling her to him as he noticed her clothing started smoking, a large burn mark across her chest from where she had been shot and her lip was bleeding from a small cut. He began lowering gently to the ground, just as the Dalek fired again, hitting his shoulder, sending a burst of agonising pain to shoot through him as he collapsed onto the floor with the Hatter in his arms, his own clothing smoking.

"Exterminate!" the Dalek called, still moving towards them, "Exterminate!"

"Hatter…" he gasped out, desperately trying to reach out his hand towards her own as it laid limply on the floor, trying to ignore his own pain. Her hat had fallen off somewhere and her normally neat, wavy hair had taken on a frizzy look, but he could see her eyes flickering open, a pained expression on her face.

River knelt beside the Time Lords, looking at them worriedly as Rory pushed Amy off to the side of the archway, peering around the edge of the wall with his gun hand at the ready, "Get back!" he told River quickly, seeing that she hadn't moved, "River, get back now!"

"Exterminate!"

Rory fired at the Dalek, hitting it twice in the chest casing, and the Dalek stopped suddenly, its energy drained again.

"Hatter?" River called urgently, leaning over the Time Lords as they shook painfully. She reached out and put a hand on both of their arms, smoothing the Hatter's hair back from her face as she grimaced painfully, "Doctor? It's me, River," she tried desperately when they remained silent, their breathing coming out in short bursts, "Can you hear me? What is it? What do you need?"

The Doctor struggled to lift his arm onto his stomach, trying to push the buttons on the Vortex Manipulator as the Hatter groaned, slowly managing to reach her hand out to touch the device, both knowing what they needed to do now. He finished setting the buttons and activated the device, both disappearing in a flash of blue energy…

….…. _ **Twelve minutes ago**_ ….…

The Doctor and the Hatter forced themselves to remain still, pretending to be dead as they heard their past selves feet running up the stairs away from them, heading for the roof.

"They won't die," Amy's past self said firmly as she stood over them, sounding as if she was trying to convince herself more than Rory, "Time can be rewritten. They'll find a way. I know they will".

Footsteps moved closer to them and they felt something soft being placed over their faces, "Come along, you two!" the past Hatter's voice called from up the stairs, and the current Hatter struggled to hold back a cringe. It really was terrible hearing the sound of your own voice, like listening to a recording of it, "We have work to do!"

They waited until they heard Amy and Rory's footsteps running up the stairs and away from them before the Time Lords released the breath that they had been holding and slowly sat up, pulling off the thing that had been put over their faces, which turned out to be Rory's watchman jacket, the Doctor tossing it aside.

"Blimey, that was strange, even for us," the Hatter muttered, wincing as her entire body arched, and that fall down the stairs really hadn't helped matters. She felt sorry for the Doctor considering the fact that he had taken most of the impact.

The Doctor rubbed at his shoulder, "Even worse than meeting a past regeneration," he agreed, thinking about just how strange it was to look into his own selves eyes.

She smiled, but quickly stopped as it made the cut on her lip sting and she felt something warm trickle down her chin, "Oh, dear," she sighed, reaching up to try and press the cuff her top to it, her voice slightly muffled by the fabric. She didn't care about staining the top, the thing was already covered in a large burn mark, "I forgot how painful being shot by a Dalek is".

"Are you okay?" he cast his eyes over her quickly, hating to see her looking so battered and bruised, though he could tell that he was no better.

"Me?" she gave him a look, "You're the one who fell down the stairs while holding me, I'm the one who should be asking that to you".

"I'm fine…" he paused as a sharp pain shot through his shoulder and into his chest, giving her a sheepish smile as it passed, "…ish," he finished, and she shook her head at him.

Together they slowly and painfully climbed onto their feet, leaning heavily against each other for support as their bodies tried to recover, every joint and muscles protesting with every sluggish step they took down the stairs and over towards the doorway into the Pandorica's exhibit, tossing the mop aside as they entered. Luckily, the Dalek seemed to have found another exit and had already left to chase after their past selves, while they made the slow path back to the Pandorica.

Once they reached the box, they stumbled into the two chairs, practically collapsing on them as they panted for breath, starting to feel the effects of being shot starting to catch up with them now, but they still had work to do and they couldn't give up now, not when so much was at stake. Together, they began pulling out wires from within the box and connecting them to the Manipulator on the Doctor's wrist, flashing the sonic at them, but their work was taking so much longer now that their fingers had started to grow numb and clumsy, and slowly, it even started to become hard to keep their eyes open as they started sinking further down into the chairs, their shoulders slumping and their partly finished work abandoned as their eyes slipped closed…

….

Amy and Rory arrived at the top of the stairs where they had left the Doctor and the Hatter's body behind, only to stop short as they found that they had gone, Rory's jacket tossed aside. River had stayed behind after the Time Lords had disappeared to deal with the Dalek, and judging by the murderous expression on her face, it wasn't going to be pleasant.

"How could they have moved?" Rory stared at the place where the Time Lords bodies had been, his eyes wide with shock, "They were dead!" he ran down the stairs with Amy, looking around, "Doctor! Hatter!" he called.

Amy shook her head, confused as she looked down at the jacket on the floor, "But they were dead!"

"Who told you that?" River asked calmly as she joined them, walking down the stairs.

" _They_ did," she replied, looking to her, "They _both_ said so".

"Rule one: The Doctor and Hatter lie".

"Even the Hatter?" Rory questioned, surprised. He had always thought of the Time Lady of being quite honest and open, more so then the Doctor. She had been more than happy to tell him and Amy about her and the Doctor's time at school, and even about past adventures she had had.

River rolled her eyes fondly, "Don't let her fool you, she's just as bad as the Doctor. She just gets away with it more because she's so honest about other things".

Amy glanced warily back up the stairs, "Where's the Dalek?" she asked, worried it was going to pop up at any moment.

"It died," she said shortly, a hint of darkness creeping into her voice.

They made their way into the Pandorica exhibit and quickly caught sight of the Time Lords slumped heavily in the Pandorica, seeming to be unconscious as they started running down the room towards them.

"Doctor!" Amy cried, alarmed as she saw how pale they both looked, as if they were close to death. She tried to run faster, "Hatter!"

River reached the box first, leaning inside to check them, while Amy and Rory stood back, watching worriedly.

"Why did they tell us they were dead?" Rory frowned, confused.

"We were a diversion," Amy realised, watching as River gently lifted the Doctor's head, checking his pulse before moving to do the same to the Hatter, "Long as the Dalek was chasing us, they could work down here".

"Doctor, Hatter, can you hear me?" River tried to call, lightly tapping their cheeks, trying to wake them up, "What were you doing?" she looked down, noticing the Vortex Manipulator had wires sticking out of it, connecting it to the rest of the box.

Rory's eyes drifted up to the ceiling to see the 'sun' outside growing bigger and brighter, casting a orange and red glow throughout the room, moving closer to the Earth, "What's happening?" he gasped, alarmed to see what was happening outside.

River stepped into the doorway of the box, following his gaze up to the window, "Reality's collapsing," she told them, taking a deep breath, "It's speeding up. Look at this room".

Rory and Amy turned, looking around to find that all the displays surrounding the room were empty.

"Where did everything go?" Amy asked, staring around.

"History is being erased," River informed her quickly, "Time is running out," she turned back to the Time Lords, moving closer to them, trying to gently shake them awake, "Doctor, Hatter, what were you doing? Tell us!" the Doctor frowned slightly, seeming to be slowly coming around, while the Hatter remained unconscious, "Hatter, please wake up…"

The Doctor's head fell onto the Hatter's shoulder as he blearily blinked, struggling to keep them open, "Big…Bang…Two…" he breathed weakly.

"The Big Bang?" Rory repeated, frowning as he looked back over to the Time Lords, "That's the beginning of the Universe, right?"

The Doctor clumsily reached out and took the Hatter's hand, feeling comforted that she was there with him, and as he tried to squeeze her hand, he felt her shoulder shift very slightly beneath his head, seeming to be stirring.

"Doctor…" the Time Lady mumbled, sensing his presence as she tried to open her eyes, only managing to get them half open to see Amy, Rory, and River gathered around the door of the Pandorica, looking at them.

"Shh," he hushed softly, nuzzling into her shoulder, not caring that her frizzy hair was tickling his cheek, "I'm here".

Amy stepped closer to the Time Lords, eyeing them, "What, and the Big Bang Two is the bang that brings it back?" she said to them, seeing that they seemed to be slightly more alert now, "Is that what you mean?"

Very slowly, both Time Lords nodded.

River's eyes widened in realisation, "Oh!" she gasped.

"What?" Amy looked to her.

She turned around to face them, "The TARDIS is still burning. It's exploding at every point in history. If you threw the Pandorica into the explosion, right into the heart of the fire…"

"Then what?"

"Then let there be light. The light from the Pandorica would explode everywhere at once, just like they said".

"And that would work? That would bring everything back?"

"A restoration field, powered by an exploding TARDIS, happening at every moment in history…" River said slowly, staring at the Time Lords with wide, amazed eyes. They never did stop amazing her how genius they both were, "Oh, that's _brilliant._ It might even work!" she quickly grabbed the Doctor's sonic from out of his limp hands, quickly stating to use it on the wires connected to the Manipulator, trying to work out exactly how far they had manage to get, "They've wired the Vortex Manipulator to the rest of the box".

"Why?" Amy questioned, frowning.

She turned back to them, lowering the sonic screwdriver, "So they can take it with them," she replied, turning back to look at the Time Lords, reaching out to put a hand on the Hatter's, "They're going to fly the Pandorica into the heart of the explosion".

….

River was busy helping the Time Lords finish the wiring inside the Pandorica, talking quietly with them, while Amy and Rory stood together a short distance away, looking at the high window to watch the sky turn brilliant orange, casting the funny orange glow over the room. The Time Lords seemed to have improved slightly, both now strong enough to keep their eyes fully open and even move their fingers, but River was the one doing most of the work, following their every instruction carefully.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked Amy after a long moment of silence, glancing at her blank face as she kept her eyes fixed ahead of her.

"Are you?"

"No".

"Well, shut up, then!" she suddenly snapped angrily, trying so hard to stay strong, to pretend as if her heart wasn't breaking knowing what was about to happen to two of her dearest friends.

Rory looked at her sadly, seeing how hard she was trying to stop herself from bursting into tears, reaching out to put a hand on her arm, turning her slightly to face him, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Amy…" River called, walking over to the couple, "They want to talk to you".

They pulled apart, Rory keeping his hand on Amy's back as she stepped closer to River, "So, what happens here?" she questioned, sounding on the verge of snapping again, "Big Bang Two? What happens to us?"

"We all wake up where we ought to be," River answered, "None of this ever happens and we don't remember it".

"River…tell me they come back too," she couldn't stand the idea of the Doctor and the Hatter not being there, of losing her two best friends. They had been there her entire life, from the moment they landed in her garden when she was a little girl and to when they came back again, asking her to travel with them. They made her feel safe and more scared then she had ever been in her life, they made her laugh until she cried listening to their bantering, and they had opened up the Universe to her. How could she possibly ever accept that they wouldn't be there?

"They will be the heart of the explosion".

"So?"

"So all the cracks in time will close, but they'll be on the wrong side…" she swallowed hard as Amy closed her eyes tightly, "Trapped in the never-space, the void between the worlds," she continued, "All memory of them will be purged from the Universe. They will never have been born".

"Couldn't one of them stay behind?" Amy asked, trying to grasp at straws to find a way to keep them, "They could try to find a way to bring the other back".

River shook her head sadly, her eyes filling with tears, "No, they have to go together," she said firmly, taking a deep breathe, "They're United, if one of them were to die then the grief would either kill them, or destroy them to the point that death would be a mercy, and for one of them to stay behind now…it would drive them mad, feeling as if a part of them was missing and not remembering what it is. They have to stay together, for their own sake," she focused on Amy, "Now, please. They want to talk to you before they go".

She frowned slightly in surprise, "Not to you?"

"They don't really know me yet," she tried to smile, only for it to come out pained, "Now they never will".

Amy nodded and slowly approached the Pandorica, swallowing thickly as her eyes ran over the cuts and bruises covering their faces as both Time Lords looked up at the sound of her footsteps, holding each other's hands. She stepped into the doorway, taking a shaky breathe, "Hi…" she breathed, unsure of just what to do.

"Amy Pond," the Doctor said weakly, giving her a small smile, "The girl who waited. All night in your garden. Was it worth it?"

"Shut up," she said quickly, blinking back tears, "Of course it was".

"Remember when you asked us why we choose you to travel with us and we told you that 'we didn't have a reason?'" the Hatter began, her voice sounding slightly rough and weak, but her eyes were fixed steadily on Amy's face, "Well…we were lying".

"It's not important," she tried to wave them off, seeing how hard it was for them to speak.

"Yeah, it's the most important thing left in the Universe," the Doctor corrected, very serious, "It's why we're doing this," he paused, eyeing her carefully, "Amy, your house was too big. That big, empty house. And just _you_ ".

"And Aunt Sharon".

"But what about your parents?" the Time Lady questioned, a grimace of pain crossing her face briefly as she forced herself to continue, "You never mentioned them, not even where they went?" she raised her eyebrows at Amy, "Leaving behind a child isn't something that people do lightly, it weighs on them and they never forget the pain, so why would your Mum and Dad leave their little girl behind in that big, old house and never come back?"

Amy shook her head, "I lost my Mum and Dad," she replied.

"How?" the Doctor asked at once, having expected the answer, "What happened to them? Where did they go?"

"I…" she began, only to blink in alarm, realising she couldn't remember, "I don't…"

"Shh, it's alright," the Hatter assured her gently, seeing how panicked Amy was starting to grow. She tried to give her a comforting smile, ignoring the pain it caused to her cut lip, "There's no need to be alarmed".

"It's not your fault," the Doctor agreed soothingly.

"I don't even _remember_ …"

"Remember the crack in your bedroom wall?" the Time Lady reminded her lightly, still giving her a comforting look, "That crack wasn't just an ordinary crack, it was a crack in time and it has been eating away at your life for a very, very long time".

"Amy Pond, all alone," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head, "The girl who didn't make sense," he exchanged a look with the brunet, smiling faintly as he turned back to Amy, "How could we resist?"

Amy frowned deeply, still looking very worried and upset, "But how could I just _forget_?"

"Nothing is truly forgotten, Amy," the Hatter told her, smiling softly at her as she reached out, placing a hand on Amy's arm, wincing as she was forced to let go after a moment, to weak, "You just have to _try_ and we have complete faith you".

The ground began shaking and the orange glow from outside grew brighter around them.

"Doctor!" River shouted, sounding alarmed, "Hatter! It's speeding up!"

Amy moved further into the box, pulling the Doctor's battered blazer open, slipping his sonic screwdriver away inside his inner breast pocket, having picked it up earlier when she noticed it on the floor.

"There's going to be a very big bang," the Doctor said to her quickly, talking fast now that they had almost run out of time, "Big Bang Two. Try and remember your family and they'll be there".

Amy shook her head at him, glancing at the Hatter, "How can I remember them if they _never_ existed?" she asked, confused and growing even more upset.

"Because…you're special," he answered, trying to make her see that she could do this, that she could bring her parents back, "That crack in your wall, all that time, the Universe pouring into your head".

"You managed to bring Rory back, you can bring your parents back, too," the Hatter added softly, wincing as pain shot through her chest, "You _can_ do this, Amy, you just have to remember, and they _will_ be there".

She began to back away from the doorway, shaking her head, " _You_ two won't," she said tearfully.

"You'll have your family back, and that's more than enough for us," the Time Lady smiled broadly at her as the clamps on their chairs started to come down onto them, locking them into place, "You won't need your imaginary friends any more".

The Doctor laughed softly as he noticed the tears rolling down Amy's cheeks, "Amy Pond…crying over us, eh?" he smiled at her as the Hatter winked, "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Gotcha!" the Time Lords called, grinning at her.

And the Pandorica closed on Amy's face, shaking and jolting around, right before it launched into the sky and up through the ceiling. The Doctor grabbed the communicator device from his pocket, exchanging a grin with the Hatter as he quickly typed out a message, 'Geronimo!' for the others, sending it off before dropping the device onto the floor. The shaking grew more violent, tossing the Time Lords painfully against their restraints as they held onto each other hands for support.

"Blimey!" the Hatter shouted over all the shaking, almost biting her tongue with all the shaking, "This is even worse then you driving the TARDIS!"

And then…they hit the exploding TARDIS…

…

The Doctor and Hatter's eyes snapped open, waking up with a start to find themselves lying beside each other on the floor of the TARDIS. They both sat up quickly, quite stunned as they looked around.

"Oh," the Doctor blinked, a smile slowly crossing his face, "Okay," he laughed slightly, turning to the Hatter, "We escaped, then. Brilliant!" he cheered, grabbing her hand, sneaking a quick kiss to the back of it as the Hatter shook her head fondly at him, "Love it when we do that".

"Even if it doesn't make sense," the Time Lady remarked, amused and feeling just a little confused. She looked down at herself, blinking in surprise to find that her clothing looked brand new again, even the holes in her tights were gone now. Hopeful, she reached up to touch her head, breaking into a broad smile to find her hat back in its proper place once more.

He looked down at himself, too, finding his own clothing back to their proper state, "Legs, yes," he looked down at his legs, nodding when he counted two of them, "Bowtie…" he quickly reached up to his neck, finding the tie there, "Cool," he smiled, and reached up to check the top of his head, only to meet with thin air, his fez gone. He sighed slightly, "I can buy a fez".

"Strange how I have my hat, while you don't," the Hatter frowned slightly. This entire situation felt wrong, it simply didn't make sense, and somehow she doubted that the fact that she had her hat was far from being their main concern. How could they possibly be back in the TARDIS? Let alone alive? She very vividly remembered being inside the Pandorica, heading into the heart of the biggest explosion that the Universe had seen since the first Big Bang. It wasn't possible for them to be alive and yet, she could feel her hearts beating and she knew she was still breathing…unless that was just a reflex. Blimey, she was giving herself a headache trying to work it out, which was saying something.

And then, a very familiar voice came from across the room, making them both freeze, staring at each other.

"Now, the Beach," the Doctor was saying, sounding quite excited, "The Beach is the best".

"Plus, automatic sand," another voice, this time sounding like the Hatter came. The Doctor and Hatter looked at each other, their eyes widening, "Imagine the sand castles!" she continued excitedly, "I love sand castles".

"Automatic sand?" Amy's voice came next, sounding curious, "What does that mean?"

Slowly, the Time Lords climbed onto their feet and moved around to peer over the top of console railing, spotting Amy leaning against the railing in a pair of shorts, sunglasses, and a flowery Hawaiian shirt, dressed for the beach, while over by the controls, the past Doctor and Hatter were moving around them, the Hatter in a bright yellow sundress with pink flowers scattered across the fabric and a large, floppy pink and yellow sun hat on her head. And her bright yellow Oxford shoes.

Once again the Doctor found himself having to stifle his laughter to see her combining articles of clothing that just shouldn't go together and yet, she still managed to pull it off. The Hatter nudged his side, giving him a light, scolding look, "Oh, stop it," she shook her head at him, amused, "I can see you trying not to laugh, I'm not _that_ oblivious".

"About certain things," he agreed, thinking about just how obvious his feelings really should have been to her for centuries.

"It's automates, totally," the past Doctor replied to Amy's question, busy fiddling with the controls.

The Hatter turned back to watch the scene, before she gasped softly, "Oh, of course," she said in realisation as it all clicked into place.

"…cleans up the lolly sticks…" the past Doctor continued explaining to Amy, still working on the controls.

"No, hang on!" the Doctor said after a moment, turning to the Hatter, catching on to her train of thought, "That's last week when we went to Space Florida," a smile cross his face, wrapping an arm around the Hatter's waist, "And you almost gave me a double heart attack when you took off that dress to reveal that bikini…"

She cleared her throat loudly, feelings the back of her neck starting to heat up, "Focus, sweetheart," she cut across him sternly. It really wasn't the time to go down that path, "We're rewinding, remember?" she gave him a pointed look, and he quickly nodded, getting back on track once more with some difficulty. She turned back to watch their past selves work on the console, "Our time streams are unravelling, starting to be erased…" they paused, looking around, and their eyes came to land on the monitor behind them to see the crack across it starting to…, "…closing…" she finished, watching as the crack started fading.

"Hello, Universe, goodbye Doctor and Hatter," he breathed, pulling the Hatter closer to him, watching until the crack had completely disappeared before turning back around, "Amy?" he called, curious to see whether she might actually hear. Slowly, Amy slipped her sunglasses down her nose and turned around, her eyes moving around them, clearly unable to see them.

The Hatter eyed her curiously, feeling a small spark of hope, "Amy?" she tried.

Suddenly, everything turned white and faded around them…

…

The Doctor and the Hatter stumbled back, blinking in surprise as the bright white light faded and they found themselves standing in the middle of a street, recognising it at once as the same one that Craig lived on. There was a meow from a cat behind them and they spun around, just as Amy walked across the street with a slip of paper in her hand, pausing to pat the cat sitting on one of the front fences of the houses lining the street.

"Ah, three weeks ago," the Doctor commented, nodding as he glanced at the Hatter, "When she put the card in the window".

"Amy!" the Hatter called loudly, waving her hands around, trying to catch her attention. Amy paused in her patting of the cat, looking up and over in their direction with a small frown, "Please, Amy, we need to tell you something important!"

Amy continued to frown for a moment before shaking her head, turning and heading off down the footpath once more, leaving them staring after her.

"She can hear us!" the Doctor realised, breaking into a hopeful smile

The Time Lady smiled broadly, but it soon faded as a thought occurred to her, and she grabbed the Doctor's hand tightly, "Doctor…" she began, her voice growing wary, "If she can hear us…then that must mean…"

Slowly, they turned around to see the crack glowing in the middle of the road behind them, starting to close…

….

The Doctor and the Hatter found themselves crouching behind a large tree in the middle of a darkening forest in the heart of the _Byzantium_ , watching as the armed Clerics stood guard around the clearing, when they heard the Doctor's voice come from a short distance away.

"Good luck, everyone!" the past Doctor was saying to them all, "Behave," he went on sternly, "Do not let that girl open her eyes. And keep watching the forest. Stop those Angels advancing. Amy, later!" the Time Lords moved to peer carefully around the tree into the clearing to see Amy sitting on the rock in the middle, her eyes tightly closed, while the Past Doctor grabbed the Tenth Hatter's hand, starting to head out of the clearing, "River, we're going to need your computer…!" he called, heading off.

The current Time Lords watched as the Tenth Hatter placed a hand on Amy's shoulder as she passed, giving her a comforting smile, "Everything will be okay, Amy," she assured her gently, "See you soon".

The current Hatter sighed, watching as her past self and her Doctor walked off together, hand in hand, leaving Amy behind, "Oh, I really do miss that accent," she muttered to her Doctor, feeling quite nostalgic hearing it again, which reminded her. If they were going to talk to Amy, she was going to have to put her accent on and try to make her voice sound a bit lighter than it did, since this regenerations voice was slightly deeper than her previous one.

The Doctor glanced at her, smiling softly. He did have to admit, he did quite enjoy her Scottish accent, it would grow much stronger when she was angry, which was quite amusing to hear…well, when it wasn't directed at him, of course. He shook his head and took her hand, slowly moving out from behind the tree and into the clearing, making their way over to Amy as she anxiously fiddled with her fingers in her lap. He knelt before her, gently grasping her hands, while the Hatter moved to sit on the rock beside Amy, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Shh, it's okay," the Hatter quietly comforted her, trying to mimic her Tenth body's voice, though, she wasn't entirely sure she was doing a very good job, "Amy, please, this is very important, you need to start trusting us".

"Hatter?" Amy frowned slightly, her eyes still firmly closed, "Your voice sounds different".

She cleared her throat, thinking quickly, "Yes, well, even a Time Lady can talk too much and start to lose their voice, but that doesn't matter," she said quickly, "Trust us, Amy, it's so important".

"But you don't always tell me the truth," she sighed.

The Doctor smiled softly, tightening his grip on her hands, "If we always told you the truth, we wouldn't need you to trust us," he remarked.

"Doctor, Hatter…the crack in my wall, how can it be here?"

"We're not sure, but we are trying very hard to figure that out," the Hatter replied, making sure to keep her voice just above a whisper, hoping it would mask her different voice. She and the Doctor exchanged a look, glancing over to where their past selves where standing on the edge of the clearing, the past Doctor fiddling with his sonic screwdriver while the Tenth Hatter shook her head at him, grabbing it out of his hands, quickly adjusting the settings with a pointed look in his direction as he pouted at her.

The Doctor struggled to hold back a laugh, enjoying watching his past self and the Hatter interacting, but he quickly forced himself to grow serious as he turned back to Amy, "Now, listen," he began to her, "Remember what we told you when you were seven?"

Amy frowned, "What did you tell me?"

"No," he shook his head, gently pressing his forehead against Amy's, closing his eyes tightly, "No…that's not the point," he corrected himself, his eyes snapping open to look at her, " _You_ have to remember".

And with that, he pulled back and pressed a light kiss to her forehead and stood, the Hatter doing the same on top of her head as they both began to make their way back across the clearing, spotting the closing crack on the truck of a nearby tree.

"Remember what?" Amy called behind them, sounding confused and frustrated, "Doctor? Hatter?"

….

The next thing the Time Lords knew, they had landed in Amy's house in the middle of the night on her landing, standing just outside her open bedroom door, their eyes widening in surprise. It really was the strangest feeling, rewinding back through their own time steams, like re-watching a movie about their own lives.

The Hatter looked around, trying to push her hair away from her face, having been tousled around with the sudden landing, "We're in Amelia's house," she realised, knowing it straight away. She sniffed the air, nodding to herself, "Yes…when she was about seven".

"The night she waited," the Doctor said quietly, meeting her eyes. Slowly, they stepped closer to the window before them, looking out over the overgrown, dark garden, already knowing that little Amelia would be down there, waiting for them to return.

They made their way down stairs and out the front door, stepping out outside as an owl hooted loudly in the distance. They made their way further into the garden, making their way through an archway to see Amelia curled up, fast asleep on her suitcase on the ground, wearing a blue coat over her nightgown and red gumboots, along with a beanie that the Hatter approved of.

"Oh, Amelia," the Time Lady smiled softly, stepping over to kneel beside the girl, reaching out to gently tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

The Doctor smiled, move closer to the girl, "The girl who waited," he commented fondly, "Come here, you," the Hatter moved back, letting him pick her up, while she grabbed her suitcase.

Together, they made their way back through the garden and up to the front door, the Hatter pulling it open for the Doctor as he carried Amelia upstairs and back to her bedroom, the girl not even stirring as they slipped off her boots, beanie, and coat before placing her back into her bed, pulling the covers over her, the Hatter tucking her in while the Doctor grabbed a chair, pulling it closer to the bed, taking a seat, the Time Lady choosing to take a seat on the edge of the bed, instead.

"It's funny," he began, slumping over slightly in his chair, suddenly feeling exhausted after everything that had happened. He reached out and took the Hatter's hand, running his thumb absently over her knuckles, "I thought, if you could hear us, we could hang on somehow," he took a deep breath, looking up to the Hatter, who was looking at him sadly, "Silly me," he shook his head at himself, "Silly old Doctor".

"Good thing we are _both_ silly, then," the Hatter smiled gently at him, giving his hand a tight squeeze. She desperately didn't want to think about what would happen when the cracks had all closed and the Universe would never have known the Doctor, he would never have even been born, and it broke her hearts just thinking about it. She tried to push those thoughts away and reached out with her other hand, gently tucking Amelia's hand beneath the covers, having been lying on her pillow beside her face, "When you wake up, Amelia, you will have a Mum and Dad to love and support you," she said softly to her, "And you won't even remember us. Well, actually, you will a little bit," she corrected herself.

"We'll be stories in your head," he agreed, smiling at the thought as he turned back to Amelia, "But that's okay. We're all stories in the end".

The Time Lady laughed slightly, feeling quite amused by the idea, "Just make sure that it's a wonderful one," she told Amelia, "Make sure there's plenty of laughs and adventures, those are always the best stories".

"'Cos it was, you know," he added to Amelia, meeting the Hatter's eyes, "It was the best. A daft old man who stole a magic box and ran away, one day travelling the stars with his best friend and true love at his side, just as it was always supposed to be," he winked at the Time Lady, who shook her head fondly at him, highly amused by his way of putting a rather fairy tale spin on their lives together. He laughed slightly, glancing at Amelia, "Did I ever tell you I stole it?" he asked her, pausing, "Well, I borrowed it…" the brunet scoffed, "I was always going to take it back".

"No, you weren't," she shook her head at him, rolling her eyes, "The moment you stepped inside that old girl, your hearts belonged to her".

"If I recall, you also _stole_ your families TARDIS".

"Ah, but I've never denied that, and I've certainly not gone around telling people I had any intention of giving it back. That TARDIS belonged to my family, I had far more right to it then you did to yours".

He shook his head at her, reaching forward to playfully flick her nose, amused to see her squirm out of his way, "Whatever makes you feel better, dear," he said in a teasing tone, before turning back to Amelia, "Oh, that box, Amy," he breathed, thinking sadly about his poor old TARDIS, tightening his grasp on the Hatter's hand as she gave him a comforting smile, "You'll dream about that box. It'll never leave you. Big and little at the same time. Brand new and ancient".

"And the bluest blue _ever_ ," the Hatter commented, smiling broadly at the thought. Oh, how she so dearly missed that old girl. She turned back to Amelia, "Just think about all those times we had…" she sighed, glancing at the Doctor sadly, "I mean, _would_ have had…will _never_ have," she corrected herself, feeling her hearts sinking having to do so.

"In your dreams, they'll still be there," the Doctor smiled faintly, laughing slightly as he looked at the Hatter, thinking about all of their adventures together with Amy, "The Doctor, the Hatter, and Amy Pond. And the days that never come," the crack flared brightly with energy across the room on the wall, catching their attention, reminding them painfully that they didn't have much longer, "The cracks are closing," he said, still looking at the crack, "But they can't close properly until we're on the other side".

"We don't belong here anymore," the brunet sighed heavily, blinking back tears as she thought of her companions, Alice and Max, Tommy, Katie, Michael, dear April, and lastly, Lily. They would never remember their adventures together, all the laughs they had, the pain of April's death, they would remember none of that, just as the Doctor's companions wouldn't remember him. They were like ghosts now. She took a deep breath, looking back to the Doctor, "Perhaps we should end it here, sweetheart…" she tried to push down a sob that threatened to escape her, "I know what you're like with repeats".

He gave her a grateful look, sniffing as he stood, pulling the Hatter up with him to hug her tightly, "Are you sure?" he asked her, pulling back slightly, not wanting her to feel as if she had to skip the rest of the repeat because of him.

She nodded, kissing his cheek, "As I said, we don't belong here anymore, Doctor. It's time to say goodbye".

He smiled sadly at her as they turned back to Amelia, "Live well," he whispered to the little girl, placing a hand on top of her head, leaning down towards her, "Love Rory," he kissed her forehead.

"Always look for the positive side of things," the Hatter murmured to Amelia, bending over her to place a kiss on her forehead, too, "Focus on what's important".

"Bye bye, Pond," he smiled sadly, straightening as he took the Hatter's hand, moving away from the bed and over to the crack, allowing it to swallow them, together.

…

The wedding had been everything Amy had dreamed of and so much more, despite any strange feelings that she might have had that she had forgotten something important, but she simply put that down to pre-wedding jitters, however, those feelings had only seemed to grow stronger throughout the day. It was her wedding day, she should have been overjoyed, and yet, something seemed to be holding her back, as if there was a heavy weight pressing down onto her chest that just didn't want to go away.

After the wedding and the pictures had been taken, they had gone to the hall that the reception was being held in that was filled with round tables for the guest, while at the end of the room was the head table where she and Rory, along with the rest of their family was sitting. Everything was going great, the best man had finished his speech and her Dad was supposed to be giving his speech next, but apparently he had needed a bit more time to finish writing his. Amy couldn't help laughing along with her exasperated Mother.

And then, she had caught sight of that women. She had walked past the windows outside with very curly, blonde hair, but it had been her expression that had really caught Amy's attention as the woman had looked straight through the window, meeting her eyes with a knowing smirk on her face.

Amy's breathe had caught in her throat as she had stared at the women, suddenly struck by the strangest feeling that she _should_ know her, and before she even realised what she was doing, she had risen from her seat, staring after the woman as she disappeared past the last window.

Rory looked up to her from the seat beside hers, frowning slightly, "Amy?" he asked, concerned, "You okay?"

She blinked, seeming very distracted, "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, still looking at the window, "I'm…" she sat back down, shaking her head, "Fine".

"Right," he nodded slowly, finding it a little odd, when he noticed her eyes, "Er…you're crying".

She sniffed and reached up to wipe a tear away, "So I am," she agreed, turning to him, very confused, "Why am I doing that?"

"Because you're…happy, probably. Happy Mrs Rory. Happy, happy, happy".

"No," she shook her head slowly, sniffing tearfully, "I'm sad. I'm really, really sad".

Rory looked away, his smile dropping, "Great…" he breathed, hurt.

"Why am I sad?" Amy asked him, and he could only shrug tensely. Her eyes landed on something on the table in front of them, "What's that?"

He followed her gaze, "Oh, er, someone left it for you," he told her, picking it up, some sort of book, and held it out to her, "A women".

She snatched it out of his hands, staring down at the dark blue, tattered cover that looked like one of those old fashioned Police Telephone box's that she had learnt about briefly at school in history, "But what is it?" she questioned, frowning as she started flipping through the yellow, aged pages that had curled slightly along the edges.

"It's a book".

She quickly ran her eyes over each page, not finding a single trace of it ever having been written or drawn in before. There wasn't even a name scribble on the front or back cover to say who it belonged to, "It's blank," she said, the feeling of something missing growing even worse.

"It's a present," he tried, sighing slightly.

"But _why_?" she demanded, snapping the book shut to look back up to him. Something was wrong, something was very wrong and she just couldn't work out what.

"Well, you know the old wedding saying," he shrugged, continuing a little less confidently as he meet her tearful eyes, seeing how desperate she really was, "The old…wedding…thing. Huh?"

Amy slowly looked back down to the book, placing it on the table before her, strange images popping into her head, but they were more than just dreams or something she had made up as a kid, they felt like memories, as if they had really happened before. She vaguely remembered standing in Winston Churchill's bunker with people rushing about, or being in a forest with stone angel statues, feeling terrified. She remembered lizard men and standing in the middle of an impossibly big room on a spaceship that could travel through time and space. Her mind was swimming with so many images that she had only ever dreamed of, each one feeling more real than the next.

Rory frowned at her slightly, seeing the stunned expression on her face as she looked back up, "Amy?" he said softly, putting a hand on her arm, starting to feel very worried now.

Amy's Father stood, holding a piece of paper in his hand, "Ready now," he announced to the room, smiling, "Sorry about that. Last minute adjustments to certain aspects. Now then, it hardly seems a year…"

As the speech continued, Amy's eyes moved around the room to look at the guests, lingering on a man in a red bowtie, a woman wearing a pink hat, a man laughing as he pushed back his blazer, revealing a set of bracers he was wearing, and then across to a woman in a bright yellow dress. Slowly, her eyes moved back down to the book in front of her as a tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the old cover.

And then…she remembered.

"…at the age of six and announced that the new head teacher wasn't real because she looked like a cartoon," the speech continued.

Amy jumped onto her feet, "Shut up, Dad!" she called.

Everyone looked at her.

"Amy?" Rory frowned at her, concerned.

"Amelia?" her Father said in a scolding tone of voice.

"Sorry, but shut up, please!" she repeated, frustrated, looking around frantically for something, "There's people missing….people important…" she grabbed a handful of her hair, clutching at it, trying so hard to think, "People so, _so_ important".

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory asked gently, feeling very worried now by her strange behaviour.

"Sorry," she dropped her hand back to her side, clearing her throat as her Father sat back down, all eyes focused on her, "Sorry, everyone. But when I was a kid, I had two imaginary friends…"

Her Mother sighed heavily from down the table, "Oh no, not this again," she breathed, looking away.

"The Raggedy Doctor and Shabby Hatter. _My_ Raggedy Doctor and Shabby Hatter. But they weren't imaginary. They were _real_ ".

"The psychiatrists we sent her to," her Mother shook her head, glancing at the man sitting beside her, exasperated.

"I remember you!" Amy said loudly, ignoring her Mother and everyone else, looking directly into the middle of the room, "I remember you!" she leaned over the table, "I brought the others back, I can bring you home, too. Raggedy man, Shabby girl, I _remember you_ , and you are late for _my wedding_!" she finished with a shout, hitting the table top.

Silence filled the room until…Rory glanced at the glasses in front of him, hearing a faint tinkling sound as the glasses hit against each other, the ground trembling as the chandelier began swaying above them.

"I found you!" she continued, "I found you with words, like you knew I would," the balloons around the room began to fly around, startling the guests, "That's why you told me the story…the brand new, ancient blue box," the guests gasped in shock and alarm as a wind began to blow throughout the room, ruffling their hair and clothing, the ground shaking even worse now, "Oh, clever," she smiled, "Very clever".

As the wind grew stronger, a strange wheezing sound began to fill the air.

Rory stared around before quickly turning back to Amy, "Amy, what is it?" he questioned, trying hard to hide his alarm, noticing her eyes fixed on the middle of the dance floor, as if she was waiting for something.

"Something old," she replied seriously, "Something new. Something borrowed," she straightened, her eyes stilled fixed on the dance floor, her face softening, "Something blue".

And then, a blue police box suddenly appeared in the middle of the dance floor.

Rory frowned, turning to look at the box, "It's the Doctor and Hatter!" he gasped, stunned as the TARDIS solidified, the wind and noise dying down completely. He shook his head at himself, "How did we forget the Doctor and Hatter?" he said to himself, his memories returning as Amy hitched the front of her wedding dress up and literally climbed over the top of the table, smashing glasses as she went, jumping down on the other side of the table, "I was plastic," he remembered, "She was the stripper at my stage! He called a bunch of aliens back to Earth just to tell them off!" he noticed the looks Amy's parents were giving him, and quickly added, "Long story…"

Amy reached the doors of the police box, knocking quickly on the doors, "Okay, Doctor, Hatter," she called through the doors, grinning broadly, "Did I surprise you this time?"

The TARDIS door opened and the Doctor stepped into view, wearing a black tuxedo with tails, a top hat, white bowtie, and a white scarf hanging loosely around his shoulders. Beside him, the second door opened and the Hatter appeared, her red lipstick painted lips stretched into a wide smile. She was wearing a red, off the shoulder dress with short sleeves and a flaring skirt with lace detailing running along the cuffs of the skirt and sleeves. She had pinned her star brooch to the front of the dress, matching red high heeled shoes, smoky eye makeup, and she had curled her hair into a bun at the base of her neck. And, of course, a black mini beret style hat with a red fabric rose sitting on it with red feathers sticking out into the air, almost hitting the Doctor's face.

"Er, yeah," the Doctor admitted, smiling at Amy as he glanced at the Hatter, "Completely astonished, aren't we, dear?"

"Oh, completely," the Hatter agreed, winking at her.

He turned back to Amy, "Never expected that," he stepped out of the doorway and into the room, taking the Hatter's hand, pulling her out along with him as they looked around at all the stunned expressions on the guests faces around them, "How lucky we happened to be wearing these old things," he remarked, using his free hand to tug on the lapel of his jacket.

The Time Lady laughed, shaking her head fondly at him as she flashed a smile around at all the guests, "Well, might I say that it is a pleasure to meet you all," she greeted them brightly, winking, "Might I say that I love the hats, everyone," she commented, her eyes lingering on a women wearing a very brightly coloured hat across the room, "Just another reason why I love weddings, people wear hats!"

The Doctor smiled at her, rolling her eyes fondly. He really should have known that would be the thing that would get her excited. He turned back to the room, holding out his hand, "Hello, everyone!" he called to the room, "We're Amy's imaginary friends," several people gasped as he stepped over to Amy's Father, grabbing his hand and shaking it, while the Hatter moved to do the same to her very shocked Mother, "But we came anyway," he added to the man.

"You absolutely, definitely may kiss the bride," Amy said, only joking as she began to walk over to the Doctor.

The Hatter raised an eyebrow, stepping into her path, giving her a playful nudge, "Oh, and I suppose that wedding gown is just a new fashion statement that I have failed to grasp?" she said to her, gesturing to the dress she was wearing. Quite honestly, the only reason she managed to make a decent outfit for Amy's wedding was because the TARDIS picked it out, so she was only partly joking.

Amy stopped and laughed, throwing her arms around the Hatter in a tight hug, "I've missed you," she said to her, having missed the Hatter's sense of humour.

"And I've missed you, too," the Time Lady nodded, pulling away with a wide smile.

The Doctor turned to Rory, who had stood from his chair, moving around the table to join them. He held out his hand, "Mr Pond!" he cheered happily, grabbing his hand and shaking it.

Rory smiled and shook his hand, laughing slightly, before pausing, realising exactly what he had said, "No, I'm not Mr Pond," he corrected, shaking his head, "That's not how it works".

The Time Lords looked at each other, shrugging as they turned back to him, "Yeah, it is," they said in unison.

He glanced at Amy, nodding, "Yeah, it is".

"Right then, everyone," the Doctor spun around on the spot, looking around to the rest of the guests, "I'll move our box. You're going to need the space," he walked back over to the TARDIS, stepping into the doorway as the Hatter followed, deciding it would probably be wiser if she did go with him and keep an eye on what he was doing. They paused in the doorway, looking back to the happy couple, "We only came for the dancing," he grinned at them.

….

'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' by the Queens was blearing throughout the room as the room was filled with people dancing around, some gathered around the edges of the dance floor to talk, but not the Time Lords. They were right in the middle of the dance floor, dancing crazily, making complete fools of themselves as the Hatter waved her arms around and the Doctor practically shook his entire body around to the beat of the music, but they were both having a complete blast, even if they're little display might not have been the most attractive. More…interesting, to say the least. Well, the Hatter told Mickey at their wedding that she and the Doctor couldn't dance unless it was together, the two of them trying to dance separately just didn't work.

Amy was laughing so hard she was almost crying as she stood on the dance floor, having been trying to dance herself when she had caught sight of the Time Lords moves. Once she had seen them two, it had just been too hard for her to keep dancing, they were completely uncoordinated with the Doctor looking as if he had an electrical current running through his body and the Hatter looking as if she was trying to swat at invisible flies in the air. At least she had ditched the shoes now after the third time she had tried dancing in them and ended up tripping, muttering something about 'evil death traps that could give Daleks a run for their money'.

"You're terrible!" she giggled, staring at them in disbelief at just how bad they were, "That is embarrassing!"

…

It was later on in the evening and the kids at started to grow bored, so the Doctor and the Hatter decided to try and entertained them by teaching them, rather badly, a few moves that the Doctor had invented himself. If it hadn't been for the kids, even the Hatter wouldn't have agreed to help the Doctor, because even she had to admit that his idea of dance moves were terrible, possibly even worse than her own, which was really saying something. But then again, she suspected he might have made the moves worse than they actually were just to keep the kids amused.

All the kids were in a group behind the Time Lords, watching everything that they did as they danced around behind them, "That's it," the Doctor encouraged them, wiggling his arms around in the air, "That's good. Keep it loose!" he and the Hatter spun around to face the kids, holding their arms up in the air and shaking their heads widely, all the kids copying.

"Well done!" the Hatter laughed, having to stop dancing as her laughter grew even harder as she watched all the kids copying the Doctor's dancing, "That's really great, kids!"

Amy and Rory watched on from where they were sitting at a table by the dance floor, laughing together.

…

The evening wore on until all the kids had been sent home and only the adults were left, leaving the Time Lords dancing close together to a slow song, swaying gently to the music, while Amy and Rory danced a short distance away from them. The Hatter smiled softly, wishing that she was shorter than the Doctor for once so that she could actually rest her head against his shoulder, like her past regeneration had been able to do. Still, being able to look directly into his eyes did make up for it.

"I do so love weddings," she remarked quietly to him.

He returned the smile, lightly kissing her before pulling back, "Because of the hats?"

She laughed, "Well, I would be lying if I said that the hats wasn't a rather large part of it, but there's another reason".

"Oh?"

"It reminds me of our wedding".

"Ah," he grinned, his eyes twinkling as he remembered that day, "You in that dress, you agreeing to be mine for the rest of our lives, you finding a way to get rid of those heels the first moment you could," he finished in a teasing tone, raising an eyebrow at her as she blushed, looking over his shoulder, "You seemed to have lost your shoes again, dear".

She sighed, shaking her head as she looked back to him, "Well, I haven't exactly _lost_ them, I left them under one of the tables".

"Wouldn't it save you all the trouble if you simply just wore flats?"

"Yes…" she agreed, nodding, "But then I wouldn't be able to complain about them being death traps, would I? It's practically a tradition for me to do that now".

He laughed, shaking his head as he leaned forward, resting his head against hers, ignoring her hat as he nuzzled into her hair, "What a day," he murmured, thinking about everything that happened.

"It was definitely a first," she agreed, "Being completely erased from the Universe, never having even been born".

He cringed, hating the thought of a Universe were the Hatter hadn't been borne, "Don't say that".

She smiled, pulling back slightly to look at his face, "I'm quite sure you would have done quite well without me," she replied lightly, quickly adding at the frown on his face, "However, I doubt you would have had nearly as much fun without me".

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Fine," she said dramatically, rolling her eyes, "I'm sure you would have been utterly miserable, no sense of humour, and…"

"Alone," he cut across her seriously.

The Hatter sighed heavily, her previous humour fading as she realised that he did have a good point. He would have been the last Time Lord left, no one else, and it broke her hearts to even imagine how he might have been if he had been alone, "But you're not," she reminded him sternly, meeting his eyes firmly, "I'm here, in this Universe. We're together, here, that's the main thing, sweetheart".

He smiled, kissing her tenderly for a long moment before drawing back, "I love you".

"I love you, too".

He twirled her gently before pulling her back to him. Together, hand in hand, they began to make their way off the dance floor, the Hatter grabbing her shoes as they passed by the table she had left them under, and continued across the doorway, pausing to look back to Amy and Rory as they swayed gently together to the music.

"Two thousand years," the Hatter remarked, smiling softly at the couple, "The boy who waited," she glanced at the Doctor, "They waited even longer than we did combined to be together".

"Good on you, mate," the Doctor said quietly, looking at Rory as the pair danced.

Deciding to call it a night, they left the reception hall and headed back to Amy's house where they had parked the TARDIS in her garden, the Hatter bare foot as she carried her shoes in one hand, the other firmly entwined with the Doctor's. They soon reached the TARDIS, the Doctor reaching inside his pocket for his key and withdrew it, starting to unlock the door, when…

"Did you dance?" River's voice cut through the air, sounding amused, making them freeze with their backs to her, "Well, you always dance at weddings, don't you?" they turned around to face her, finding her wearing a black coat over a dress, smirking at them, "You never can resist showing off".

The Doctor raised his eyebrows playfully at her, "You tell us".

She laughed softly, winking, "Spoilers!"

"And what is it about you turning up at weddings, appearing from behind trees?" the Hatter asked, amused, thinking about her own wedding when River had made a rather sudden appearance.

"And what about you and your heels?"

"I wear them, then I complain about them for the rest of the evening. It's how it works with me".

The Doctor laughed, shaking his head fondly at her as he reached inside his pocket, pulling out River's journal that had finally sparked Amy's memories. He held it out to River, "The writing's all back, but we didn't peek," he told her, glancing at the Time Lady, "The Hatter made sure I didn't".

River took the book, "Oh, I bet," she smirked at him, nodding, "Thank you".

The Hatter looked at her curiously for a moment as he handed her the Vortex Manipulator, "Are you married, River?" she questioned, realising that she really didn't know very much about her at all.

"Are you asking?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered, curious himself.

"Yes," she said simply, smirking again at them both.

"No, hang on," he said quickly, frowning slightly as he glanced at the Hatter, who seemed more amused by the response then anything, "Did you think we…I was asking you to marry me, o-or asking if you were married?" he tried to correct himself, growing rather flustered now.

"Yes".

"No, but was that 'yes' or ' _yes_?'"

"Yes".

The Hatter laughed, shaking her head, putting a hand on the Doctor, almost starting to grow concerned with just how confused he had managed to make himself, "River Song…who are you?" she said to her. She had a suspicion on who she might be to her and the Doctor, but as far as who River really was as a whole, she didn't have a clue.

River's smile seem to grow sadder, "You're going to find out very soon now," she replied quietly, her previous humour fading instantly, growing very serious, "And I'm sorry, but that's when everything changes," and with that, she hit a button on the Manipulator strapped to her rest and disappeared in a flash of blue energy.

They stared at the spot for a long moment, before shaking their heads, the Doctor taking the Hatter's hand as they turned back to the TARDIS, unlocking the door and strolling inside. The Doctor took his top hat off and put it on the hatstand beside the door, flashing the Hatter a cheeky grin at her disappointed expression, having rather enjoyed seeing him in that hat as she dropped her heels on the floor by the door. He playfully twirled her around, the two dancing up in a mock waltz up the steps and up to the console, the Doctor whipping his scarf off and dropping it onto the controls as they stared down at all buttons, wondering what to do next.

The door banged open behind them, "Oi!" Amy's voice called through the room, catching their attention as she poked her head around the door to mock glare at them, "Where are you going off to?" she strolled into the room, moving up the steps to join them, "We haven't even got you two drunk yet," she added playfully, having heard from the Hatter about how bad Time Lords could be at drinking.

Rory stepped into the doorway, catching the end of her remark, "Amy!" he scolded, shutting the door behind him.

"Shut up…it's my wedding".

"Ah, that takes me back," the Hatter smiled, recalling having enjoyed being able to say that as an excuse on her own wedding day.

" _Our_ wedding," he reminded her.

"Sorry, you two…" the Doctor spun around to face them, glancing at Amy as she leaned against the console with a hand on her hip, "Shouldn't have slipped away. Bit busy, you know?"

"You just saved the whole of space and time," Rory commented, shrugging as he moved to join them up at the console, looking between the Time Lords, "Take the evening off. Maybe a bit of tomorrow".

"Ah, but space and time aren't safe quite yet," the Time Lady sighed, exchanging a grim look with the Doctor, "The TARDIS exploded for a reason, it didn't _just_ happen. Something drew the old girl to that very specific date and place, and blew her up".

The phone began ringing.

"Why?" the Doctor asked aloud, starting to pace around the console, thinking deeply, "And why now?" he moved back around to the Hatter's side, frowning as he glanced briefly at the phone still ringing, "The Silence," he said thoughtfully, looking at the Hatter, "Whatever it is, is still out there, and we have to…"

"Sweetheart," the Hatter cut in, wincing as the noise of the phone ringing was starting to grate on her nerves, "Would you mind getting the phone, since you are closest?"

"Excuse me a moment," he nodded, moving to grab the phone, lifting up to his ear as they watched curiously, "Hello," he paused, listening for a moment, "Oh! Hello," he smiled, growing a bit brighter, "I'm sorry, this is a very bad line," he sighed, shaking his head, "No, but that's not possible. She was sealed into the Seventh Obelisk," he glanced at the Hatter, who was even more curious now, "We were at the prayer meeting," he paused, listening, "Well, no, I get it's important. An Egyptian goddess loose on the Orient Express…" he glanced at Amy and Rory as they exchanged a wide eyed look, "…in space. Give us a mo," he lowered the receiver, looking over to the couple, "Sorry, something's some up. This will have to be goodbye".

"Yeah, I think it's goodbye," Amy nodded, turning to Rory, "Do you think it's goodbye?"

"Definitely goodbye," Rory agreed, not taking his eyes off the Time Lords.

Amy hurried down the steps and over to the doors, throwing them open to look out onto her garden, "Goodbye!" she shouted out into the night, waving, "Goodbye," she smiled, closing the door and turning back to them.

The Hatter laughed as the Doctor smiled, lifting the receiver back up to his ear, "Don't worry about a thing, You Majesty," he said into the phone, "We're on our way".

Amy and Rory grabbed a hold on the console as the Hatter grabbed a lever, setting them off.

 _ **And we've finally finished the fifth season, now onto the Christmas special and then the Sarah Jane episode. I can't wait for that one, good old Jo Jones. And then, of course, we're onto the next story and I can't wait for that story, things are starting to change Oh, and the Hatter's outfit is on my profile and tumblr. Next chapter, flying fish, flirting, and the Hatter gets bitten. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	27. Chapter 27 The Christmas Carol, Part 1

_**The Christmas Carol, Part 1**_

Just when the Doctor and the Hatter thought they had some time to themselves with Amy and Rory off on their honeymoon on an intergalactic cruise ship, everything changed. For the past week, they had been taking the happy couple to every holiday destination that they could think of, before going off to do their own little fun adventures on their own without the humans. Of course, they hadn't just left them, the Hatter had built a device to insure that they could reach them at any time if anything should go wrong and they had already had to use the device after a picnic on a planet that they had taken the pair to had to be cut short after a small incident, but aside from that, there had been no need for the device…until today.

The Hatter was sitting in an armchair in a small sitting room that resembled her old console room quite well, enjoying reading a book about engineering, mainly out of boredom then any real learning purposes. The book was rather basic for her skill level and covered everything that she already knew on the subject, but it did fill her with a sense of nostalgia, thanking about her school days.

And then, the door flew open, breaking the previous calmness of the room and the Doctor rushed inside, looking rather concerned, clutching the other half of the device that the Time Lady had built for Amy and Rory.

The Time Lady sighed slightly, flickering a page without looking up. She was far too used to the Doctor bursting into rooms by now to even feel concerned or surprised anymore. She was positive he did it just for the dramatic effect, "Yes, sweetheart?" she asked calmly.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" he exclaimed, waving a hand around in mock annoyance.

"I had a headache and figured I would find somewhere quiet to read".

He frowned slightly, eyeing her thoughtfully, "You've had a lot of headaches lately," he remarked, a hint of concerned entering his voice.

She closed the book and looked up to him, giving him a teasing smile, "Well, I did marry you, didn't I?" she replied, laughing as his hand dramatically clutched at his chest and his eyes widened in mock offense.

"And everyone thinks you're so nice," he huffed.

She grinned cheekily, "I am nice," she stood, dropping the book on the seat behind her as she stepped over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned in until her lips only just touched his ear, "Just not _always_ ," she whispered before pulling back with a laugh, letting her arms drop back down to her side as she took a step back from him, just to get a proper look at his reaction.

The Doctor's eyes were half closed, giving him an almost drunk look as his mouth hung open slightly, seeming to be too stunned to speak. After a moment, he cleared his throat and pulled himself together, snapping his mouth closed as he tried very hard to avoid meeting her smug, amused eyes as he reached up to adjust his bowtie, "That…er, wasn't very fair, dear," he managed to get out, his voice sounding higher than normal.

She shrugged, still looking very pleased with herself, "Who ever said I liked to play by the rules?"

He groaned softly, running a hand down his face, "And now you've distracted me completely from why I came in here".

"Apparently, not _completely_ , though I'm positive that I could still do that very easily. You have always been rather easy to distract, even without trying," her eyes came to land on the device still in his hand, noticing the small red, blinking light on it that signalled a distress call had gone out, "However, something tells me it would be wiser to be completely focused right now," she commented, growing serious.

He nodded, forcing himself to grow serious himself as he held out the device to her, watching as she took it, "It looks like they're in trouble," he informed her as she checked the device.

"And we're not even on board the ship," she said, shaking her head.

Together, they headed out the door and off down the corridor, quickly making their way into the console room, hurrying up to the controls as they tried to lock on to the ship that Amy and Rory were on, only to find that it seemed to be experiencing quite a bit of trouble as they could see from the scanner the ship flying through very dense cloud as it plummeted towards a planet, shaking and jolting around erratically. The Time Lords raced around the controls, trying to help steady the ship and stop its decent, but it was falling to fast for even them to do anything, or even for them to get a proper look.

They ran a scan, managing to get a reading off the ship that showed that it was the dense cloud belt around the ship that was cause for the ships distress, leaving them trapped inside, unable to stabilise their orbit.

"What's causing it, though?" the Doctor wondered loudly, rushing around the controls, pushing buttons and pulling levers, "Those clouds, they don't seem to be ordinary".

"I'll run a scan of the planet!" the Hatter called around to him, typing quickly, pressing a button. She glanced up at the scanner to check the results, "There's a huge energy spike coming from the planet below, I'm getting a similar reading off the clouds".

"Coordinates?"

"With a spike like this, we won't need to them".

He grinned, feeling quite excited now as he grabbed the device from where he had left it on the console, quickly typing a message to the ship for Amy and Rory, along with the rest of the crew to see as they flew alongside the ship, 'Come Along Pond…'

The Hatter piloted the TARDIS passed the ship and down to below the cloud belt, bringing them to land on the roof top of a very large, steampunk style manor in the middle of the similar themed city with smaller houses scattered around the planet's surface, yellow lights glowing out of windows through the night. The manor that they had landed on was in the middle of the city, towering over all the other far more modest houses as at the very top of the building, on a dome roof, there was a machine shooting a current of purple energy up into the sky, the clouds swirling around it.

The Time Lords hurried over to the doors, throwing them open, and stepped out onto the dark roof top as an icy wind blew around them, glancing up to the machine shooting the energy into the sky.

"Well, I did say we wouldn't need coordinates to find it," the Time Lady remarked, eyeing the machine curiously, trying to work out exactly what it was.

The Doctor moved closer to look over the edge of the roof, down to the street below to see people walking around, some carting large pine trees around with lights hung up around the streets as the sound of what sounded like Christmas carols drifted up to them.

He broke into a broad grin and turned to the Hatter, "It's Christmas!" he said excitedly, his eyes lighting up in delight, knowing how much she loved the holiday.

She sniffed the air curiously, a small smile crossing her face, "Christmas Eve, actually," she corrected teasingly, unable to help herself

He playfully stuck out his tongue to her, making her laugh, shaking her head fondly at him. He moved away from the edge of the roof, when his eyes came to land on a chimney a few steps away, big enough for him to fit down. He winked at the brunet and made a dash for the chimney.

"Oh, dear," the Hatter sighed slightly, realising what he had in mind. She moved to follow him as he climbed up onto the edge of the chimney, swinging his legs into the dark hole before she could even blink, "Sweetheart, I don't think…."

And he jumped before she could even finished.

She groaned, reaching up to rub her forehead, "Honestly, his Mother deserved a medal," she muttered, feeling sorry just thinking about what a Time Tot Doctor must have been like, running around, probably climbing up bookcases and sliding down stair railings, terrorising everyone in his wake. And the tantrums must have been terrible, she dreaded imagining.

She made her way back inside the TARDIS and dematerialising off the roof, coming to land inside the manor in the same room as the chimney. She threw the doors open, just in time to see soot come flying out of the open fireplace in the very large, dimly lit room and the Doctor come tumbling out, landing in a heap on the floor, smoke and soot flying into the air, covering the floor. He jumped back onto his feet, coughing as he tried patting his filthy, soot covered clothes down.

A small family of four stopped and stared, seeming unsure of who to look at first, the blue box and hat wearing women who had just appeared in the room, or the man who had fallen down the chimney, even an old man and a few servants seemed unsure as to which one to look at first, all shocked.

"Ah!" the Doctor said, looking up to see the people in the room, "Yes, blimey, sorry!" he broke into a broad grin, his eyes lighting up again, "Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, 'what the hell!'"

"Typical," the Hatter muttered, shaking her head fondly, moving to help brush some of the soot off him, covering her hands, too. She sighed, making a slight face her hands, "You're lucky I don't wear a white shirt anymore".

He held out his arms to her, taking a step closer, "Hug, dear?" he asked her playfully.

She gave him a quick, sharp look, practically able to hear what he was thinking about doing, "Don't you dare".

He laughed and held up his hands in surrender, knowing that it really wouldn't be a wise idea for him to try and hug her right now, not unless he wanted to make her angry at him. He looked over her shoulder, noticing a girl and slightly younger boy standing behind her with an older man and woman, staring at both him and the Time Lady, "Don't worry…" he smiled at them, stepping over to them with the brunet at his side, "Fat fella will be doing the rounds later," he shook the boys hand, and then the girls, "We're just scoping out the general…chimney-ness. Yes!" he whirled back around, heading back over to the chimney, patting the mantle before leaning his hand against it, looking back over to them, "Nice size, good traction…" he winced and quickly pulled his hand back, suddenly aware that it was still quite hot from the fire that had been in it. He glanced down at his hand, before turning back to them, nodding, "Big tick".

"Oh, honestly," the Hatter sighed, rolling her eyes at him, caught between amusement and exasperation. Of course he would lean against a fireplace and not think twice about how hot it probably still was.

The man in the family, the Father, frowned at the Doctor, "Fat fella?" he repeated, confused.

"You know, Father Christmas," the Time Lady replied, turning around to give the family a smile as the Doctor moved back to her side. The family simply looked confused, "Santa Claus?" she tried again, raising an eyebrow.

"Or, as we've always known him, Jeff," the Doctor added brightly.

"There's no such thing as Father Christmas," the young boy shook his head at them.

"Oh, yeah?" he raised his eyebrows challenging at him, reaching inside his pocket to whip out a black and white photo of himself and Hatter sitting together in front of a fireplace with Frank Sinatra, Jeff, and another man with wild looking hair standing behind them, smiling brightly at the camera. He held it up for the boy to see, "The Hatter and me, Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952".

"Blimey, that was a fun night," the Hatter commented, recalling the night well. She leaned around to get a better look at the picture, "Oh, and see that man with the rather crazy looking hair in the back?" she pointed to the man, flashing the boy a grin and a wink, "That's Albert Einstein…or just Bertie to me," she gave the Doctor a smug look, "I told you shouldn't have pointed out the flaw in his theory of relativity, I wasn't going to say anything".

"It was annoying me," he defended himself, shifting slightly on the spot as he slipped the picture back inside his pocket. He did have admit, it did put a bit of a downer on things for the rest of the evening. He shook his head, turning back to the boy, "Anyway, the five of us together…harroom!" he grinned, "Watch out!" he pointed at the boy, who had started smiling, "Okay?" the boy nodded, "Keep the faith, stay off the naughty list," he turned, taking the Hatter's hand, and walked away, catching sight of something across the other side of the room, "Ooh! Now, what's this?"

Across the room, standing in a small alcove space with thick, red curtains hanging over the doorway was a large machine covered with different knobs and buttons, small flashing lights scattered all around the panels, along with gauges and valves.

"I love this," the Doctor said brightly, wiggling his fingers around as he looked over all the buttons and controls, "A big flashy lighty thing, that's what brought us here," he glanced at the Hatter, looking like an excited child. She couldn't help smiling fondly at him, "Big flashy lighty things have got me and the Hatter written all over them. Not actually…" he took a seat on the swivel chair in front of the controls, spinning it around to face the room, "But give me time and a crayon…"

"Best not," the Hatter cut in, looking up briefly, carefully examining the controls, "The last time I let him loose with a box of crayons I walked back into the room after an hour to find that he had managed to draw on every surface in the room. Even _I_ was shocked".

"That only happened once!"

"Once was more than enough, sweetheart".

He shook his head, smiling, noticing the amused expression on her face, "Now," he turned back to face the rest of the room, trying to grow serious again, "This big flashy light thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah?" he focused on the older man, guessing he was the one in charge, "And it controls the sky…"

"Well, more accurately it controls the clouds," the Hatter corrected, turning around to lean against the controls, facing the room as the Doctor stood, moving closer to the man, "And the clouds aren't really clouds at all, they're made up of tiny particles of ice".

"Ice clouds," he remarked, his eyes brightening, pointing across to the boy, "Love that".

"I am curious, though," the Time Lady continued, raising her eyebrows, "Who is that?" she asked, nodding over to where a cryo-chamber had been placed in the middle of the room, having noticed before that a young, pretty blonde women had been frozen inside the chamber, facing the family. A relative of theirs, perhaps?

"Nobody important," the old man said, waving her off.

The Time Lords exchanged a look, the Hatter pushing off the controls to move closer to the box, peeking inside the small rounded window showing the young women's peaceful face, "No one important?" she repeated, glancing at the old man, sounding shocked.

"Blimey, that's amazing," the Doctor shook his head, looking through the rounded window, too, "Do you know, nine hundred years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before. You, dear?" he turned to the Hatter.

"Never," she agreed, giving the man a pointed look.

The Doctor grabbed the brunet's hand, turning and running back over to the control panel, "Now!" he began trying to work on the controls, all the while still talking, "This console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat…if I had a hat. I'll eat the Hatter's hat…"

"Not unless you want to find yourself in a black hole," the Hatter told him sharply, very serious with the threat.

He shivered, glancing back to her, "Sorry, dear. I'll eat someone _else's_ hat," he corrected himself quickly, almost frantically at how serious he knew the threat really was, going back to trying to get the controls to work for him, "Not someone who's using their hat, I don't want to shock a nun, or something. Sorry, rambling, 'cos…'cos this isn't working!" he threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

"That's because the controls are isomorphic," the Time Lady informed him lightly, sighing slightly, having already worked that out from her own examination.

The old man opened his mouth, casting the brunet a surprised look, but it was soon replaced with a small frown as he stepped closer to the two, "One to one," he nodded, "They respond only to me".

The Doctor slowly turned around to face him, "Oh, you fibber!" he accused, "Both of you!" he waved a scolding finger at the Hatter, who rolled her eyes, batting the finger away from her face. He shook his head, turning back to the controls, "Isomorphic!" he muttered, scoffing, "There's no such thing".

The Hatter eyed him strangely, "Did you hit your head when you fell down that chimney, sweetheart?" she asked him, "The Master had isomorphic controls on his laser screwdriver, remember? So did my ninth self on her sonic screwdriver…until I removed them when I gave it to Martha".

And just to prove his point, the man reached past the Doctor and hit a button on the controls, turning the device off. The Doctor stopped and stared at him, watching as he reached forward and hit the same button, turning the device back on. The Doctor tried to same switch, only for it beep at him and the machine remained on. He grabbed the switch, trying to shake it, but nothing happened. Frustrated, he pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and flashed it at the controls, before moving to scan the old man, checking the results.

"Well?" the brunet raised her eyebrows at him, trying hard not to look too amused.

"These controls are isomorphic!" he exclaimed, as if they hadn't been trying to tell him that before.

She shook her head, patting his arm as she glanced at the old man, "Believe it or not, he's actually very clever, just… _different_ ".

The old man didn't look the slightest bit amused, "The skies of this entire world are mine," he told them, "My family tamed them, and now I own them".

"Tamed the sky?" the Hatter repeated, raising an eyebrow at the man, finding the idea quite an odd one. What, did he own sky fields filled with lightening, or something? Saying it like that made it sound even sillier.

"What does that mean?" the Doctor questioned, agreeing with the Time Lady.

The old man turned and walked away from them, "It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?"

"Well, just easily bored, I suppose," he shrugged, not overly fond of the man.

The Hatter coughed, struggling to hold back a laugh as she noticed the Father of the family biting back a smile. She cleared her throat, looking back to the old man, "So _you_ would be the one that we need to help us, then," she said the man, walking closer to him.

"Make an appointment," he waved her off.

She frowned deeply at him, "You do realise that unless you help us, four thousand and three innocent people trapped inside a spaceship in _your_ cloud belt will all die, don't you?" she asked him, very seriously.

"Yes," he replied calmly, actually smiling slightly, completely unaffected by the idea.

She stared at him, actually taken aback at his complete disregard for so many lives, when he could so easily just push a button here and there and save them all.

The Doctor stepped up beside the Time Lady, taking her hand as he frowned at Kazran, "You don't have to let that happen," he told him simply.

"I know, but I'm going to," Kazran said, sneering at them, "Bye-bye, bored now. Chuck!" he called, glancing over to one of the servants. The servants moved forward, grabbing the Doctor and Hatter's arms before they could even blink, while another forcefully ushered the family away along with them towards the doors, but the Time Lords managed to twist out of their grip and stormed over to where Kazran had taken a seat by the fireplace in a large chair. He looked up at them as they reached him, unimpressed, "Ooh, look at you two, looking all tough now".

"There are four thousand and three people who we won't allow to die tonight," the Doctor looked down to him, determined, "Do you know where that puts you?"

"Where?" Kazran asked them, not sounding the slightest but interested, simply humouring them.

"Four thousand and four," the Hatter said simply.

"Was that a sort of threat-y thing?" he scoffed, smirking up at them.

"Perhaps," she responded seriously, fixing him with a hard expression, "And I'm sorry, truly I am, but you have left us with no other choice. Just remember that whatever happens next, you brought this all on yourself".

"Yeah, yeah, right," he rolled his eyes, unconcerned as he looked across the room to one of the servants, "Get them out of here," he waved his hand at them, and two servants approached the Time Lords, grabbing their arms tightly as they didn't bother resisting, pulling them away towards the doors, "And next time, try and find me some funny poor people".

The servants resumed ushering the family out the door, when the boy managed to break free and ran forward, grabbing a lump of coal off the ground that had rolled across the floor from the fireplace. He threw it straight at Kazran, hitting him in the head.

"Oh, well done," the Hatter smiled, giving the boy a wink as she was shoved forward, almost making her stumble, but her smile soon died as she realised that it probably wasn't the wisest thing to have done, not with just how unpleasant Kazran already was.

And just as she had feared, Kazran jumped onto his feet, practically growling with anger as he nearly ran across the room to the boy, lifting his open hand high into the air, ready to strike the boy, who remained where he was, his eyes wide…

"No, stop, don't!" the Doctor shouted, struggling against the man holding him.

"Don't touch him!" the Hatter cried out, her eyes widening in horror as she looked frantically between the old man and the boy.

"Don't you dare!" the father yelled, fighting with the servant that was holding him back, desperately trying to get to his son, "You leave him!"

But something seemed to stop Kazran as he hesitated, his hand still hanging in mid-air, standing over the boy, seeming to be trying to muster the nerve to actually strike him, when slowly, very slowly, he began lowering his hand, a brief look of shame crossing his face as he looked down.

The Doctor and the Hatter stopped struggling, watching the scene unfold with great interest, their minds whirling with different ideas. He hadn't been able to hit the boy, he had been angry enough to, he had had more than enough time to do so, and yet he hadn't been able to bring himself to hit him. Why? The man was willing to let four thousand and three people die, but he couldn't bring himself to hit a child when he was so furious with him, which made the Time Lady start to think and look at things differently. There was far more to Kazran then just a bitter old man, something in his past had made him this way, and she had a pretty good idea she knew what, or rather, _who_.

Kazran took a small step back from the boy, "Get them out of here!" he ordered loudly, glaring furiously at the boy and the family, "Get that foul smelling family out!" the servants hurried forward, pushing the family out of the room, one servant rushing forward to roughly grab the boy and shove him off after his family, "Out!" he snapped, watching for a moment as they were forced out of the door, before turning away as the shouts of the family carried down the hallway, slowly walking back towards his chair, when he paused. He looked back over his shoulder to see the Doctor and Hatter standing behind him, eyeing him carefully, "What?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes at them, "What do you want?"

"A simple life with my wife," the Doctor replied, taking the Hatter's hand.

"A hat I will never lose," the Hatter remarked, before pausing, casting the Doctor a sideways look with a small smile, "Though, yours does sound very nice, sweetheart".

He smiled slightly at her, turning back to the man, "You didn't hit the boy," he observed.

"Well, I will next time!" Kazran threatened loudly, glaring past them and over to the open doors.

The Time Lady shook her head at him, not the slightest bit convinced, "No, I don't believe so," she said thoughtfully, eyeing him closely, "You had plenty of time to hit him, but you didn't. You _couldn't_ ".

"Now why?" the Doctor wondered aloud, stepping around the old man with the Hatter, their eyes roaming around the room carefully, looking for any clue that they might have overlocked, "What are we missing?" he muttered.

"Get out!" Kazran growled angrily at them, turning around to face them as they continued to look around the room, "Get out of my house!"

"Oh, of course," the Hatter breathed, almost hitting herself for not making the connection sooner as she spun back around to face the man, having noticed a rather large, old portrait of a man that resembled Kazran quite a bit hanging on a wall behind the chairs, "It's the chairs!"

"Of course, the chairs!" the Doctor exclaimed in realisation, whirling back around to face the man, too, as a wary expression crossed Kazran's face, "Stupid me, the chairs!" he shook his head at himself.

"The chairs?" Kazran repeated, his voice lowering slightly, and for the first time he actually looked unsure of himself.

"There's a portrait on the wall behind us," he began, fixing Kazran with an intent look, talking quickly, "Looks like you, but it's too old, so it's your Father".

"All the chairs in this room are positioned away from the portrait," the Time Lady added, speaking just as quickly as the Doctor had been, "You're Father has been dead for about twenty years now, and yet you still can't get comfortable where he can see you".

"There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve".

"You're _afraid_ of your Father," she realised, her voice growing quieter as her expression softened, looking at the old man almost sadly, "So much so that you are even afraid of his very _memory_ , because you are afraid of one day becoming like him".

"And good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"

Kazran looked between them as lightening flashed outside, "Why?" he breathed, suddenly looking almost hopeful.

The Hatter smiled at him gently, "Because you didn't hit the boy," she replied.

The man blinked slightly, slowly looking down at the soot covered floor.

The Doctor broke into a small smile, watching him, "Marry Christmas, Mr Sardick".

"I _despise_ Christmas!" he spat at them, his head snapping back up to glare at them.

He took the Hatter's hand as they began walking passed the man, heading for the door, "You shouldn't," he remarked over his shoulder, exchanging a look with the brunet, "It's very you".

"It's what?" he frowned deeply, turning around to watch them go, "What do you mean?"

They paused in the doorway, the Hatter giving him a broad smile and wink, "Halfway out of the dark," she told him, tipping the brim of her hat to him.

Kazran stared after them as they turned and strolled out of the room, just as the servants returned and entered the room, ignoring the Time Lords as they strolled off down the long hallway, hand in hand, both with small smiles on their faces.

"Get her downstairs with the others!" they heard the man shouting behind them, "And clean up this mess!"

It didn't take the Time Lords long to find their way downstairs and into a rather large and lavish entrance hall, calmly heading for the front door, just as the communicator device in the Hatter's pocket beeped, catching their attention. She quickly pulled it out of her jacket pocket, putting it on speaker so that they could both hear.

"Have you got a plan yet?" Amy's voice came over straight away, just as they stepped outside onto a darkened street with several people, most in old and patched clothing wondered around, seeming to be in a rush to get home.

"Yes, we do," the Doctor said at once, glancing over to the device in the brunet's hand, making their way down a set of front steps.

"Are you lying? Hatter, tell me he's _not_ lying?"

"Well, that would be a lie in itself, wouldn't it?" the Hatter smiled faintly, casting the Doctor an amused look. She shrugged, "But not to worry, we do our best thinking on our feet".

"Don't treat me like an idiot," Amy said, annoyed at them both now, the Doctor for lying in the first place and the Hatter for her roundabout way of answering.

"Are they lying?" Rory's voice came from somewhere in the background.

Amy laughed slightly tensely, not very convincing, "No, no".

"Okay," the Doctor cut in as the Hatter struggled to hold back a laugh. They stepped into the middle of the street, looking up at the stormy, dark sky, "The good news. We're tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. We could use it to clear you're a flight corridor, and you could land easily".

"Oh, hey, hey, that's great news!"

"Ah, but we can't actually control the machine," the Hatter added hastily, sighing slightly.

"Less great".

"But we've met the man who can," the Doctor informed her brightly.

"Ah, well, there you go".

"Oh, and did we mention that you sort of, kind of, hates us?" the Time Lady put on a fake, happy voice.

Amy sighed loudly on the other end, and the brunet could practically hear her eye roll, "Were you two being extra charming and clever?" she asked.

The Doctor blinked, looking quite surprised as he glanced at the Hatter, not noticing Amy's tone of voice, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"Something tells me it was a lucky guess," the Hatter commented, shaking her head at the Doctor, amused.

"Sir…ma'am!" a man called over to them, making them pause and look up to see the Father of the small family a short distance away from them, standing by an old carriage-like mode of transport, only it didn't seem to be pulled by horses, rather some sort of advance technology. He hurried over to the Time Lords, smiling at them broadly.

"Oh, give us a tick, Amy," the Time Lady said quickly into the device, lowering it to her side as the man neared them, giving the man their full attention.

He reached them, still smiling at them, "I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr Sardick like that," he told them happily, eagerly shaking the Doctor's hand, and then the Hatter's, "Bless you, sir, ma'am, and Merry Christmas".

The brunet smiled at him broadly, "And a very Merry Christmas to you and your family," she wished him, giving his family waiting in the couch behind him a little wave.

"Yes, Merry Christmas," the Doctor agreed, giving them a smile, too, "Lovely. Sorry, bit busy…" he nodded to the device in the Hatter's hand, trying not to seem too rude, otherwise he knew that the Hatter would end up scolding him.

"You'd better get inside," the man warned them, "The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning".

"Oh, right, yeah…"

"Hang on," the Hatter blinked slightly at the man, realising what he had just said, "Did you just say _fish_?" she shook her head, exchanging a look with the Doctor.

"Yeah," the man nodded, not seeming to notice their confusion and surprise, "You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry".

"Yeah, fish, we know fish," the Doctor replied, moving his hand around like a fish swimming, before shaking his head, frowning at the man, " _Fish_?"

"It's all Mr Sardick's fault, I reckon," the man said, and pointed up at the spire on the dome roof sending energy into the sky, lightening crackling around it as they followed the gesture, "He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood," he sighed, slipping a pair of goggles he had resting on top of his head over his eyes, before grabbing the Time lords hands, shaking them happily again, "Thank you," he smiled at them, "Bless you once again, sir, ma'am," and with that, he turned and walked back over the carriage, leaving the Doctor and Hatter very confused.

"Fish?" he repeated, frowning deeply as he turned to the Hatter, who could only shrug, just as clueless as him.

"Doctor, Hatter!" Amy's voice shouted over the comm. link, sounding urgent, "The Captain says we're got less than an hour. What should we be doing?"

The Hatter went to answer, when she turned around and caught sight of something, making her blink, "Oh…" she breathed, making the Doctor look at her, " _Fish_ ".

He followed her gaze to see that a small group of tiny fish was literally _swimming_ around the top of an old fashion looking streetlamp a short distance away, like moths drawn to a flame.

"Sorry, what?" Amy called again, sounding confused and frustrated.

"Fish that can swim in fog…" the Doctor remarked, breaking into a broad smile as he and the Hatter stepped closer to the post, watching the fish. He looked at her, his eyes lighting up in delight, "I love new planets!"

"Oh, this really is Christmas," the Hatter laughed, grinning at him, just as excited by the discovery as him.

"Doctor, Hatter, please don't get distracted!"

"Bit late for that," the Time Lady muttered, quite fascinated by the fish. She was amazed she hadn't heard of them before, it wasn't as if _every_ planet had flying fish, surly that would be a pretty big drawcard.

"Now, why would people be frightened by you tiny little fellas?" the Doctor cooed slightly, lifting his hand up, wiggling his fingers as a couple of the fish broke away from the rest and began to try nibbling on his fingertips, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies…" the fish swam back up to the lamp.

"Oh…" the Hatter said suddenly, her eyes widening as a thought occurred to her, quickly turning back to the Doctor, "Sweetheart, I just realised, if these _tiny_ fish like to swim in the fog, then what _else_ could be swimming up there in in the _cloud cover_?" she pointed out, startled by the idea.

"…ooh," his eyes widened, too, looking up towards the sky, "Careful up there, Amy," he called as the Hatter lifted the device back up between them.

"Oh, great, thanks, Doctor," Amy said sarcastically over the link, "Because there was a real danger we were all going to nod off…we've got less than an hour!" she suddenly shouted, making the Time Lords wince.

The Hatter glanced behind her to where a large clock was built into a wall, just as it struck eleven o'clock, "Yes, we know," she said grimly.

There was a crackling sound and suddenly speakers on the lampposts turned on, playing 'Ding Dong Merrily on High' all around them. The Time Lady frowned, casting the speakers a quick look.

"Doctor!" Amy called over the link, sounding annoyed, "Hatter! How are you getting us off here?"

"Oh, just…just give us a minute!" the Doctor said hurriedly, smacking his forehead, trying to think as he began pacing. The Hatter shook her head at him, holding the device out towards him as he began talking quickly, "Can't use the TARDIS, 'cos it can't lock on".

"The other alternative would be to land the ship," the Hatter added, trying to help him, knowing that this regeneration of his seemed to think better when he spoke aloud, "And right now that's not an option because a rather unfriendly man has the only power to be able to do that, and he's already made it very clear just how little he cares".

"I can't hear you!" Amy called loudly over the link, "What is that? Is that singing?"

"A Christmas carol," the Doctor replied.

"A what?"

"It's a _Christmas carol_ ," the Time Lady repeated a bit louder.

"A _what_?"

"A Christmas carol!" the Doctor shouted, when he froze, his eyes widening as an idea hit him. Slowly, he turned to the Hatter, seeing that she had just had the same idea as him, breaking into matching grins.

"Oh, yes," the brunet breathed, growing excited, "That could actually work, sweetheart!"

"Doctor?" Amy's voice came back over, sounding confused, "Hatter?"

They turned and looked up at the spire, "Kazran Sardick…!" they both cheered, exchanging a look.

"Doctor! Hatter!"

"Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick!"

….

With their idea in mind, the Time Lord managed to sneak back into Kazran's house and back up to the room that they had left the TARDIS in, finding the old man fast asleep in his chair by the fireplace. All the soot on the floor had been cleaned up and the fireplace relit while they had been away, but they didn't stop as they carefully made their way over to the TARIDS, and snuck inside.

They used the TARDIS databanks to pull up an old recording of a young Kazran from his childhood, seeming to be one of the very few recordings of the man. It was in a rather poor state, seeming to have been completely forgotten about years ago, but the Time Lords managed to get it to work, evening clearing up the picture and sound quality enough to be able to work out what was going on. Once they had done all that they could to improve it, they snuck back outside into the room and the Doctor set the recording up into a projection box on a table near the sleeping man, aiming it at the wall before him. With their plan ready to go, they moved back into the shadows behind Kazran's chair and switched on the device.

The projection began playing on the wall across the room, showing a young boy sitting in a chair in front of the camera, seeming to have been taken from within the boy's bedroom as in the background they could see a large bed against a wall.

"Hello," the boy smiled at the camera, just as the image crackled before righting itself once more. Kazran slept on, not stirring in the slightest, "My name is Kazran Sardick. I'm 12-and-a-half, and this is my bedroom," he nodded behind him to the rest of the room.

The Hatter couldn't help smiling softly as she watched, exchanging a look with the Doctor beside her. She really couldn't help having a soft spot for kids.

"Top secret special project…" old Kazran mumbled in his sleep.

"…this is my top secret special project," young Kazran leaned closer to the camera on the recording, grinning at the screen, "For my eyes only. Merry Christmas".

"Kazran!" a man's voice shouted from somewhere on the recording, and the boy lost his smile, looking almost fearful, "Kazran!" the shouting woke the older Kazran with a start and he sat up, staring at the projection playing on the wall before him with wide eyes, just as his Father burst into his childhood bedroom on the screen, "Kazran, what are you doing?" he demanded, catching sight of his son, storming over to him, "What are you doing?" he noticed the camera and moved closer to it as older Kazran quickly stood, backing away fearfully, almost as if his Father was in the room with him. His father turned away from the camera to glare at his son, "I've warned you before about this, you stupid, ignorant, ridiculous child!"

The Hatter felt a wave of anger wash over her, wishing she could do something to protect the child, feeling ill seeing the anger on the man's face as he glared at his own son. The Doctor wrapped his arm around her waist, feeling just as unsettled by the recording as she did.

"I was just going to make a film of the fish," young Kazran tried to explain to his father.

"Fish are dangerous!" his father snapped angrily at him.

"I just want to see them," he protested, gripping the arms of his chair tightly.

"Don't be stupid, you're far too young!"

"Everyone at school's seen the fish".

"That's _enough_! You'll be singing to them next, like gypsies".

"The singing works!" young Kazran argued, determined, "I've seen it. The fish _like_ the singing".

Older Kazran slowly stepped closer to the recording, watching as the scene continued, completely oblivious to the Doctor and Hatter standing in the shadows behind him.

"What does it matter what fish like?" his father spat at him.

"People say we don't have to be afraid of the fish. They're not really interested in us".

"You don't listen to _people_!" his father growled, standing over the top of his chair, waving a finger angrily in his face, "You listen to _me_!"

And he backhanded young Kazran, making the young by cry out in pain, reaching up to his cheek. Older Kazran gasped and touched his own cheek, remembering the stinging pain.

The Hatter let out a strangled gasped, quickly turning to press her face into the Doctor's neck, unable to stand it as the Doctor held her tighter, rubbing her back. She was horrified, truly horrified and angry to witness a child being hit by their own father simply because they had been curious, and worst of all, Kazran spent years being abused and hurt, and no one stepped in to stop it. No wonder he became the man that he was today.

As the recording continued, young Karzan clutched at his cheek, his eyes downcast, "Sorry, Father," he breathed, his voice trembling faintly with pain and fear.

"This is _my_ house!"

Slowly, the Hatter pulled herself away from the Doctor as they stepped out from the shadows, moving quietly into the room and over to older Kazran, who was still watching the recording as his younger self put his head in his arms on the desk top, sobbing softly into them while his father continued to shout and belittle him in the background.

The Doctor reached out, placing a hand on the man's shoulder, "It's okay…" he tried to comfort him, but the moment his hand touched his shoulder, Kazran jumped and spun around to face them, his eyes wide, "It's okay…"

"What have you done?" Kazran demanded, glaring at them, "What is this?" he pointed over to the recording still playing.

"We found it on an old driver," the Hatter informed him softly, struggling to keep her eyes from coming to rest on the sobbing child on the recording, feeling her hearts breaking at every painful sob, "I…um…" she tried to clear her throat, forcing her eyes away again to look at the man before her, "Sorry…about the picture quality, most of the data had to be recovered by using quantum enfolding and a spare paperclip".

The Doctor gently took her hand, trying to give her a comforting smile, seeing how troubled she was by hearing the child still sobbing on the recording. He lightly tugged her away and over to Kazran's chair, gesturing for her to take it. The Hatter gave him a small smile and took a seat in the chair, crossing her ankles together as he grabbed a newspaper from beside the chair, flipping it open as he took a seat on the arm of the chair beside her.

Kazran cast them a quick, dark look as he moved to look at the projection box before hurrying around the table and over to where a long length of fabric was hanging from the ceiling beside the fireplace, connected to a bell to alert his servants.

"Oh, I wouldn't bother doing that," the Time Lady said to him, noticing what he was doing. The man ignored her and tugged on the fabric, a small bell tinkled through the room. She shrugged, glancing at the Doctor, "Well, suit yourself, but you ought to know that they've all quit," she sighed, shaking her head mockingly, putting on a voice that her Mother would always use when she would complain about their servants when she was a child, "You just can't find decent staff any more, can you?"

Kazran stopped, staring at them, stunned.

"Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time," the Doctor added, running his eyes down the newspaper page in his hands, "Which is a bit lucky when you think about it".

"There isn't a lottery," Kazran narrowed his eyes at them, moving around to stand in front of the fireplace.

"Yeah, as I said…" he looked up from the newspaper and over to him, the corner of his mouth twitching, "Lucky…"

"There's a fog warning tonight," Kazran's father was still talking on the recording, moving across the room to where a large, circular window was, while young Kazran continued to cry softly into his arms, "You keep these windows closed, understood? Closed!"

Kazran pulled his eyes off the projection and looked at the Time Lords, frowning deeply at them, "Who are you?" he asked, lowering his voice to just above a whisper.

"Tonight…" the Hatter smiled widely at him, winking, "We're the Ghosts of Christmas Pasts," she replied dramatically, unable to help herself.

"Mrs Mantovani will be looking after you tonight," Kazran's father was saying on the recording, drawing their attention back up to the projection as they watched the man walk back over to his sobbing son, "You stay here till she comes. Do you understand?" he questioned him, raising his voice when the boy didn't reply, lifting his tearful face, "Do you understand?"

The Doctor and Hatter stood, watching the projection as the man left the room without looking back to his very distressed son, completely ignoring him as young Kazran put his head back in his arms, crying again now that he was left alone. Older Kazran stepped closer to the projection, watching it.

The Time Lady swallowed, hard, forcefully pulling her eyes away from the recording to rest on Kazran's back, "Did you ever get to see the fish when you were a child?" she asked him curiously, her voice sounding softer than normal.

"What does that matter to you?" Kazran snapped, sending her a glare over his shoulder.

"Because to that little boy right there, it clearly meant a great deal," she said calmly, nodding to the recording, "And that means it matters to me, too".

He looked back up to the recording, "I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson".

The Time Lords moved around to stand in front of the project, turning back to him, "Which is?" the Doctor frowned slightly.

"Nobody comes," he sneered at them, glancing back to the projection.

"Sometimes they do," the Hatter remarked, following his gaze.

His head snapped back to them, "Get out!" he shouted at them, taking a step towards them, forcing them to back away from him, "Get out of my house!"

The Doctor grabbed the Hatter's hand, edging himself between her and the old man, "Okay…okay," he nodded quickly, "But we'll be back," he smiled slightly, exchanging a look with the Hatter as they turned, walking over to the doors where the recording was still playing over them, "Way back," they reached the doors and he opened the door to reveal the TARDIS behind them, glancing back over his shoulder to Kazran, "Way, _way_ back."

They left the room, closing the door behind them as they stepped inside the TARDIS, disappearing…only to reappearing at the exact same moment that they had left Kazran watching the recording, only in his younger selves bedroom as he cried at his desk. They landed the TARDIS on the roof outside his bedroom window and stepped outside, moving to stand by the window, just as the boy looked up and over to them, startled.

"See?" the Doctor called through the window, knowing that the recording was still running in the future, grinning broadly, "Back!" he opened the window, letting it swing open.

"Who are you?" Kazran asked, blinking at the Time Lords, his tears seeming to have stopped at the distraction of their arrival.

"Hello, there!" the Hatter smiled brightly, giving him a little wave, "I'm the Hatter".

"And I'm the Doctor," the Doctor added happily, pointing across the room to him, "We're your new babysitters," he jumped off the window ledge and into the room, turning around to help the Hatter down into the room after him.

"Where's Mrs Mantovani?" Kazran asked, moving too quickly whip his eyes of tears.

The Time Lady walked across the room and over to him, "Here, let me," she said gently, kneeling in front of him, pulling a tissue out of her pocket, trying hard not to let her wince show as she noticed a handprint mark on his cheek. Slowly, so not to startle him, she reached him and lightly wiped the tears away, giving him a bright smile, "There we go," she tucked the tissue away in her pocket, playfully bopping his nose, making him scrunch his face up at her as she tried hard not to laugh at his reaction, "All better".

The Doctor moved to stand by the large double bed with thick curtains hanging over headboard, "Ah, you'll never guess," he remarked as the Time Lady straightened, keeping a hand lightly resting on Kazran's shoulder, suspecting that the poor boy probably hadn't had much contact that didn't involve pain in some form. They watched as the Doctor jumped onto the bed, happily bouncing up and down on the mattress, mucking up the once neat covers, "Clever old Mrs Manters, she only went and won the lottery!" he grinned.

"There isn't any lottery," Kazran frowned again.

"We know!" he laughed, "What a woman!" he jumped off the bed, grabbing the Hatter's hand and twirling her over to him, making her laugh as she found herself in his arms.

The boy eyed them slightly, still not seeming entirely convinced by their story, "If you're my babysitters, why are you climbing in the window?" he questioned.

"Because if we were climbing out, we'd be going in the wrong direction. Pay attention".

"But Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter".

"Well, things change," the Hatter replied, shrugging as she let go of the Doctor's hand, moving to peer into the camera still recording everything, knowing that future Kazran was still watching, "Wouldn't you agree, hmm?" she raised her eyebrows pointedly at the camera, "Remember what we said? Christmas…" she pointed to the boy sitting beside her, "… _past_ ".

Kazran eyed them oddly, almost as if he was fearing for their sanity, "Who are you talking to?"

"You," she said calmly, giving him a wink over her shoulder.

The Doctor stepped up beside the Hatter, looking at the camera, too, "Now, your past is going to change," he explained to the future Kazran, "That means your memories will too. Scary, but you'll get the hang of it".

"You might even find yourself even enjoying yourself," the brunet smiled at the camera.

"I don't understand," Kazran said to them, shaking his head in confusion, wondering why they seemed to be talking into the camera instead of to his face.

"Oh, I bet you don't," the Doctor grinned, turning to the boy watching them strangely, leaning down so that they were eye level, "I wish I could see your face…" he turned back to the camera, still grinning broadly as he pointed from Kazran and back to the camera, before grabbing the Hatter's hand and turning, taking a running leap together back onto the bed, landing with a bouncy thump as the Time Lady broke into giggles, landing on her back, her hat toppling off her head and onto the floor. Once their laughter had calmed down, the Hatter rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows, while the Doctor sat back upright with a clap, dangling his legs over the edge of the bed, "Right, then," he said cheerfully, "Your bedroom. Great! Let's see, your twelve years old…" he began tugging on the sheets hanging off the side of the bed.

"Ah, it's probably best to stay away from the beneath the bed," the Hatter cut in, reaching out to lightly pull the Doctor's hands back from the sheets, casting Kazran a quick look. She remembered her own eldest son having a fear of 'monsters' hiding under his bed when he was young, whenever she would go to wish him goodnight he would always get her to check under the bed before setting foot anywhere near the bed. Even after he had started going to the Academy, he would still get her to check whenever he came home for the holidays, and she, of course, couldn't help humouring him, even though she knew perfectly well that he was just doing it because he enjoyed it.

"Ah, right," he nodded, catching on. His own children had gone through a similar phase of thinking there was something under the bed, and he recalled quite well having a similar fear that there was something hiding under his bed, waiting to pull him under…He shook his head, casting his eyes around the room, when his eyes brightened, struck by an idea, "Cupboard!" he cried in excitement, pointing across to where he had noticed a set of doors off to the side of the room, "Big cupboard, I love a cupboard…" he trailed off slightly, a blush spreading across his face as he recalled a time that he and the Hatter had found themselves having to spend a few hours inside one back in his last body.

The Time Lady cleared her throat loudly, nudging the Doctor's side as she noticed the blush covering his face, "Focus, sweetheart," she muttered sternly, nodding her head pointedly over towards the child currently in their presence.

He coughed, jumping onto his feet as he dashed over to the doors, pulling the cupboard doors open to reveal a long, dark, narrow space within that was lined with shelves and clothing hanging on hangers, "Do you know, there's a thing called a Face Spider," he commented as the Hatter began frowning at his back, wondering where he was going with this, "It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards…"

The Hatter closed her eyes tightly in exasperation and reached up to smack the back of his head, causing him to yelp and spin back around to face her, his eyes wide with confusion as he rubbed the back of his head, "You are an idiot," she hissed at him, fixing him with a firm glare, "We're supposed to be helping him, not scaring him for life!"

He blinked and glanced over her shoulder to see Kazran staring at them with wide, slightly fearful eyes. He coughed awkwardly, quickly shutting the cupboards doors behind him without turning around, realising that she might have a very good point there.

"It's not nearly as frightening as he made it seem," the Time Lady tried to calm the boy, giving him a comforting look as she moved back to his side, placing a hand lightly on his shoulder. She threw the Doctor a pointed look, wondering how he hadn't managed to completely scare his own children going around, saying things like that without thinking.

"Yeah…" the Doctor nodded, shifting slightly on the spot, taking a step closer to Kazran as he leaned a bit further back in his chair, eyeing the strange man, "I probably shouldn't have mentioned…" he cleared his throat, clapping his hands, deciding it would probably be best just to move off the subject completely, "Right, so…" he rubbed his hands together, "What are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls?" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, amused, "I've never actually done that…" he trailed off, turning slightly pink as he looked away suddenly.

"Sweetheart?" she asked, still raising her eyebrows at him, a hint of teasing entering her tone.

"Er…" he rubbed the back of his neck, still avoiding both her and Kazran's eyes, "I might have mentioned you a few times to the Master in school…"

"Oh?"

"Just a few times...you know, after he found out I liked you…"

The Hatter crossed her arms across her chest, a mock innocent expression crossing her face, enjoying watching just how flustered she could make him, "No, actually, I don't know," she said, shaking her head, "Perhaps you should explain more".

"And then I might have said something to the Monk, the War Chief, Drax, and a few others…"

"Doctor," she cut in, raising an eyebrow at him, "Was there anyone in our little circle of friends at school who _didn't_ know about your feelings for me?" she questioned, sighing slightly, "For goodness sakes, you even told the War Chief and he thought you were a complete idiot".

"To be fair, most of our friends thought I was an idiot".

She paused, seeming to consider what he had just said, "You know, we really didn't pick the best of people to be friends with at school," she commented sadly. Most of them, save for only two out of their friends, had all gone on to become renegades. In fact, only she and the Doctor had managed to not become criminals…well, she supposed even that was debatable, but even Drax had ended up finding himself in a prison and was forced to help the Black Guardian at one point. It really was quite amazing, when she thought back to her schools days, having no idea that some of those closest to her would one day go on to try and kill herself and the Doctor.

He flashed her a bright smile, "I picked you, and it turned out to be the best thing I ever did".

She returned the smile, "Well, when you say it like that, I would have to whole heartily agree. Becoming friends with you was one of the very best things to have happened in my life, too".

Kazran looked between the Time Lords, eyeing them both strangely, "Are you two _really_ babysitters?" he frowned. The women, he could believe, but the man seemed completely…well, he couldn't even begin to describe him.

The Doctor turned to him, looking almost offended as he held his head higher, "I think you'll find we're universally recognised as mature and responsible adults…" he reached inside his blazer, whipping out the psychic paper, holding it up quite smugly for the boy to see.

The Hatter burst out laughing, having to grab hold of the table behind her to stop herself from falling onto the floor, feeling her eyes starting to water with her giggles. Mature and responsible adults? The Doctor so didn't just try to describe himself in that way.

The Doctor sniffed haughtily, doing a rather good impression of his Sixth regeneration as he sent the Time Lady a mock glare, "Ignore her," he said to Kazran, "She's completely mad, that's why she calls herself 'the Hatter," he raised his voice slightly, throwing the brunet a pointed look, "She has no idea what she's talking about…"

"Mature?" she managed to giggle, reaching up to whip her eyes, "You are the least mature person in the Universe, and that includes me".

"See what I mean?" he continued to the boy, mockingly shaking his head, "Completely mad. I once saw her eat an entire bowl of jelly babies and chocolate syrup for breakfast, and let's not even start on what she had had dinner".

Kazran looked at the psychic paper, frowning at it as he glanced back up to the Doctor, "It's just a lot of wavy lines," he said to him, confused.

The Doctor blinked and quickly turned it back around to see for himself, while the Hatter's giggles died down, "And we've finally managed to find a lie so big, even the psychic paper can't handle it," she commented, grinning cheekily at the Doctor's pout as he slipped the paper back inside his pocket, "You've actually managed to short it out," she shook her head at him, "I didn't even know that was possible, sweetheart".

He sighed heavily, "Neither did I," he admitted, before moving to lean down so that he was eye level with Kazran, "Okay, no, not really babysitters," he nodded, seeing no point to lying now, his voice brightening, "But it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one, you want us".

"Why?" Kazran looked between the Time Lords, narrowing his eyes slightly, "What's so special about you two?"

"Have you ever seen 'Marry Poppins?'" he asked, straightening.

"No…"

"That's probably a good thing," the Hatter remarked, amused as the Doctor moved away, heading over towards the window, "Because that would really not amply to us, regardless of what a very curly haired woman might claim".

The Doctor clapped his hands together, "Fish in the fog, fish in the clouds," he said, and jumped up onto the window ledge, looking outside into the misty night as the Time Lady and Kazran watched him, "How do people get bored?" he wondered aloud, grinning, "How did boredom even get invented?"

"My Dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt," Kazran informed them, standing from his chair, stepping closer to the window with the Hatter at his side, "'Tame the sky,' he says," the Doctor turned around to look back into the room to them, "The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, "Yeah," he nodded, his eyes coming to rest on Kazran's, "We've seen your Dad's machine".

"What?" he blinked at them, glancing at the Time Lady, who nodded in agreement, "You can't have," he shook his head.

The Hatter walked closer to the open window, poking her head out to look up at the dark, cloudy night sky, "What an idea…taming the sky," she muttered, still finding the idea just as silly as she had when she had first heard of the idea.

"Human beings," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head as he looked back to Kazran, "You always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you?" he complained slightly.

"But never mind that!" the Time Lady said brightly, spinning around to face him, seeing the confusion on the boy's face as he eyed the Doctor strangely. She raised her eyebrows at him, leaning down so that she was eye level with him, "The fish, would you like to see one?" she asked him, giving him a smile as he quickly returned it, looking eager.

"We can do that," the Doctor added, giving him his own smile, "We can see a fish".

Kazran's smile faded, replaced with a frown, "Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?" he questioned.

"Dangerous?" he repeated, his smile turning into a broad grin as the Hatter laughed softly. He jumped down from the ledge and back into the room, moving back over to them, "Come on, we're boys!" he cheered at Kazran, ruffling his hair playfully, "And you know what boys say in the face of danger?"

"What?"

"Mummy," he replied, very seriously, before breaking into another smile, wrapping his arm around the Hatter's waist, "Or, in my case, Hatter," he quickly planted a kiss on the brunet's cheek as she rolled her eyes fondly, shaking her head in amusement as he turned back to Kazran, "Trust me, there's no one I would feel safer with then her".

The Hatter laughed, "And there's no one I would feel safer around then you, sweetheart," she told him, giving him a gentle smile.

Kazran smiled at them both, already feeling safer than he had felt in years.

….

The Doctor and the Hatter were sitting in the cupboard with Kazran between them, the recording still going on the camera that they had set up before them as they leaned against the back of the cupboard doors. The Time Lords had connected the Doctor's sonic screwdriver up on a piece of long string outside in the bedroom on a hook in the middle of the ceiling, leaving the sonic dangling on the string as bait, while the Doctor had the other end of the string looped around his finger as they sat, waiting for a fish to make an appearance, having left the window wide open for it to swim inside.

"Are there any Face Spiders in here?" Kazran asked after a long moment, nervously casting his eyes around at all the shelves lining the dark, narrow space around them.

"Of course not," the Hatter said comfortingly, giving him a small smile through the dark, "You're perfectly safe in here with us".

"They'll all be sleeping in your mattress," the Doctor agreed.

The Time Lady gave him a sharp look over Kazran's head, "What he actually means…" she went on in a firmer voice, making the Doctor wince, "Is that the creature _isn't_ even on this planet, at all," she turned back to Kazran, giving him a smile, "He was just teasing. Face Spiders hate the fog, so you're completely protected from them".

"Yes, that's right," he nodded hurriedly, still wincing slightly at the glare she sent him again, clearly saying that he had better agree, or else he was going to get smacked again. He cleared his throat, shifting slightly, deciding that it would probably be safer for him to try and change the subject, "So why are you so interested in fish?" he glanced down at Kazran.

Kazran shrugged, "'Cos they're scary," he replied.

He seemed to consider it thoughtfully for a moment, while the Hatter smiled, amused by just how serious he actually seemed to be. It looked like the Doctor had finally found someone to match his mental age level at last, "Good answers," he eventually said.

"What kind of tie is that?" he questioned curiously, his eyes landing on the bowtie around the Doctor's neck.

"A cool one".

"Why is it cool?"

"Why are you _really_ interested in fish?"

Kazran lowered his gaze down to his bent knees, toying with his fingertips as he sighed, "My school," he began quietly as the Time Lords listened closely, "During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal," he shook his head, "No one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains".

"It must have been quite frightening," the Hatter remarked softly, reaching out to place a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I wasn't there," he told them gloomily, "I was off sick".

"Ooh, lucky you," the Doctor commented, before noticing Kazran sniff slightly, bowing his head sadly, "Not lucky?" he tried again.

He looked back up them, shaking his head, "It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came," he sighed heavily, "Everyone's got a story".

"But you don't," the Hatter murmured, nodding as she glanced down at the boy, before her eyes drifted across to the camera sitting on the floor a short distance away from them, "Yes, we can see that now," she said to future Kazran over the recording.

"Why are you recording this?" Kazran frowned slightly, noticing the Time Lady's gaze on the camera.

"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" the Doctor asked him suddenly.

He blinked, looking back to him as the Hatter gave him a curious look, too, "Sorry, what?"

"'Cos you're not paying attention now".

They all looked at the string looped around his finger to see it twitching very slightly, as if something was tugging on the other end outside the cupboard. Kazran broke into an excited smile, looking eagerly back to the Time Lords, realising that they had finally managed to lure a fish in.

The Doctor raised a finger to his lips, "Shh," he hushed him, unsure whether or not a sudden noise might frighten the fish away, but not wanting to take the risk. Slowly, the Time Lords both stood and leaned their ears against the doors, trying to hear what exactly was waiting for them outside, the Doctor reaching for the doorknob.

"Doctor, Hatter, are you sure?" Kazran whispered, looking up at them, almost nervously.

The Hatter gave him a comforting smile, "You need to trust us, okay?"

"Okay…" he said slowly, clearly still very unsure about the whole idea.

"Oi!" the Doctor called quietly, making him look back up to them. He fixed him with a steady look, keeping eye contact, "Eyes on the tie. Look at me, I wear it and I don't care," he reached up and wiggled the bowtie around a bit to prove his point, his expression softening as he smiled at the boy, "Trust us?" he asked again.

Kazran broke into a smile, nodding at them, "Yes".

"And that's what makes it so cool," the Hatter smiled at him, winking cheekily as she reached down to playfully ruffle his hair, trying hard not to laugh as he scrunched up his face at her, trying to smooth his mussed hair back down. The Doctor was always going on about how wonderful she was with kids, but he was just as good. He had a way of looking at things from a child's eyes, being able to see the world as they did, and it gave him a unique way of being able to deal with them. She had to admit, she did love to watch him interacting with them. He really was a natural, even if he might speak without thinking sometimes.

The Doctor took the Hatter's hand with his free one, exchanging a quick look as they glanced back over to the camera, the Time Lady giving it another wink. They turned back to the door and carefully turned the handle, the Doctor quietly opening the door and slipping out through the small gap first, the Hatter following close behind him, shutting the door shut behind her. They looked out across the darkened bedroom to see a tiny fish with dark blue stripes floating in the air before the sonic, trying to nibble on the flashing end as it dangled in mid-air from the string.

"Ooh, it's actually quite cute," the Time Lady cooed softly, eyeing the tiny fish curiously, a bright grin spreading across her face.

"Hello, fishy," the Doctor smiled at the fish, nodding at the Hatter in agreement, "Let's see…" he and the brunet slowly began to walk closer to the fish, edging around the walls, not wishing to frighten it away, "Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh?" he cast his eyes around.

The Hatter nodded, narrowing her eyes around the room thoughtfully, "It could possibly be carrying a very small electrical charge," she said, amused as she watched the fish still trying to nibble on the end of the sonic. She was half tempted to take one back to the TARDIS and keep it as a pet, just for the entertainment value of watching it. She glanced at the Doctor, "I wonder if that's how they stay airborne in the fog?"

"What is it?" Kazran called through the door, sounding eager as they stepped closer to the fish, "What kind? Can I see?"

"Just stay there a moment," the Doctor called back, leaning closer to the fish, eyeing it with fascination.

"Is it big?"

"No," the Hatter grinned, happily watching the fish, reaching out to wiggle her fingers at the fish, curious to see just what it would do, "It's only a tiny little thing".

"So, little fella, what do you eat?" the Doctor wondered aloud, still grinning at it.

Suddenly, a huge shark swam in through the window and swallowed the fish and sonic whole, narrowly missing taking a bite out of the Time Lords as they both scrambled backwards, their eyes widening as they could only stare at the massive, deadly fish floating before them. The Hatter swallowed a yelp of surprise as the Doctor reacted on instinct, pulling her back behind him, putting himself in front of her and the shark.

"How little?" Kazran continued eagerly through the cupboard door, completely oblivious to what was going on in his bedroom.

"Um…" the Doctor swallowed shakily, staring at the shark.

"Can I come out?"

"No!" the Hatter shouted before she could stop herself, her voice sounding far higher than normal, horrified by the idea of Kazran being in the same room as the shark, "No, don't come out," she tried again, lowering her voice slightly, struggling to try and keep the panic from entering her voice. She and the Doctor began trying to edge back over to the cupboard, not taking their eyes off the shake for a second, "You just stay in there, maybe wait a little bit…" she told him hurriedly.

The shark eyed them carefully as they moved, grunting at them, seeming to be sniffing to see if they were edible.

"What colour is it?" Kazran questioned through the door.

"Big…" the Doctor gasped out, still making sure that he was in front of the Hatter, who, for once, wasn't protesting in the slightest about his protectiveness, "Big colour…" he grabbed the Hatter's hand and they made a dash for the cupboard door, throwing the doors open and racing inside, slamming the door shut behind them, leaning heavily against it, just as the shark began trying to head butt it with its head.

"What's happening?" Kazran frowned slightly at them, glancing at the door as something thumped hard against it from the other side, almost throwing the Time Lords off the door as they tried to keep their backs firmly pressed against it.

"Well, concentrate on the plusses," he began, glancing quickly at the Hatter beside him, before turning back to the boy, "You've definitely got a story of your own now".

The door thumped again and Kazran gasped, taking a step back in alarm.

"Oh, and we managed to get a very good look at the fish," the Hatter added, giving Kazran a strained smile, not wanting to frighten him, reaching up to try and straighten her hat as all the thumping started to make it slip down her forehead, "And we're also starting to understand the fog better, which will help us to save a spaceship from crashing in the future and save many people's lives".

"And I'll get some readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in your bedroom".

"There's a shark in my bedroom?" Kazran exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"Oh, fine!" he huffed, acting as if Kazran was the one overacting, "Focus on that part!"

"It's really not as bad as it seems," the Hatter tried to calm the situation, giving the boy a smile, just as there was a very hard thump on the door, making her wince. She sighed, "Okay, so maybe it is that bad…"

Suddenly, everything quietened and the banging stopped completely. The Time Lords froze, slowly turning their heads to look at the door, their eyes catching each other warily.

"Has it gone?" Kazran asked, looking hopeful and confused, "What's it doing?"

The Time Lords exchanged a look and pressed their ears against the doors, trying to listen, "What do you call if it you don't have any feet, and you're taking a run-up?" the Doctor looked back to the Time Lady, raising his eyebrows.

The Hatter's eyes widened, "Oh, no…" she breathed, and jolted away from the door, grabbing Kazran and pushing him behind her, moving as far away from the door as they possibly could as the Doctor quickly joined them at the back of the cupboard, just as the shark managed to break through the door. The three of them huddled on the floor together at the very back at the cupboard, the Hatter placing herself in front of Kazran, while the Doctor tried shielding them both, their eyes wide as the shark loomed over them, its jaw open wide with rows of very sharp teeth clearly on display and a green glow emitting up the back of its throat.

"It's going to eat us!" Kazran cried, panicking as the shack's jaws snapped at them, sending books and pieces of wood falling on top of them, even a box with puzzle pieces inside it, covering them in the little puzzle pieces, "It's going to eat us, it's going to eat us…is it going to eat us?"

"Well, I suppose we can always hope that we might eat _it_ instead," the Hatter remarked loudly over all the noise of the shark, eyeing it with a hint of fear, "But I'm not exactly holding my breath on that one".

"It's stuck, though," the Doctor said, seeing that the shark had stopped snapping its jaws, its mouth wide open as it struggled in the doorway, trying to break through the tight gap, "Let's see. Tiny brain," he glanced back to the Hatter, talking quickly, "If I had my screwdriver, I could probably stun it".

"Good plan," the Time Lady nodded, sighing heavily, "There's only one rather large flaw…"

Kazran looked quickly to the Doctor, "Well, where's your screwdriver?" he questioned hurriedly.

"And there's the flaw," she muttered.

"Well, concentrating on the plusses…within reach," the Doctor replied, eyeing the glowing green light inside the shark's mouth, "You know, there's a real chance, the way it's wedged in the doorway, of keeping its mouth open".

"There is?" the boy frowned at him.

"Just go along with him," the Hatter advised him, patting his shoulder behind her back, "Trust me, it's easier that way".

"Right, okay, I've only got two goes, and then it's your turn," the Doctor nodded, reaching back to playfully ruffle the boys hair, smiling a little too widely for what he was planning to do. There was no way he was about to suggest the Hatter try, but of course he knew that she would never allow a child to do something as dangerous as that. Not if her life depended on it, which it very well could if he ended up failing.

"Two goes?" Kazran questioned.

"Two arms," he said a little too brightly for the Hatter's comfort, pushing his sleeve of his left arm up, wiggling hand fingers around. He quickly slipped his wedding ring off, handing it to the Hatter, "Here you go, dear, keep that safe for me," he flashed her a bright smile.

She sighed, carefully slipping the silver band inside her pocket, "Let's just hope you have a finger left to put it back on," she commented grimly.

He turned back to face the shark, rubbing his hands together nervously, feeling quite strange without the piece of metal around his finger. It just didn't feel right, almost wrong to not be wearing it, "Right, then!" he called, glancing back to Kazran and the Hatter, smiling, "Okay…" he took a deep, steady breath and turned back to the shark, "Geronimo!" he moved closer to the shark, reaching out with his left arm into its mouth, "Open wide!"

The Hatter groaned and closed her eyes tightly, unable to stand the tension of the Doctor possibly losing his arm…again, and this time he couldn't exactly just grow it back, "Oh, I can't watch," she mumbled worriedly.

….

As it turned out, the Time Lady had for no reason to fear as, after only a short time of sticking his hand down the sharks throat, he had managed to pull it back with a victorious cry and his hand, while covered in a liquid that the Hatter really didn't want to think about too deeply, also clutched his sonic screwdriver in his hand. Well, at least part of it, since it was missing a large chunk, leaving the Doctor only with a sharp, jagged end of the device.

The shark attempted make an escape, seeming to think that they would be too much trouble then they were worth, but as it managed to dislodged itself from the doorway and swim back outside, it collapsed onto the rooftop, just outside the bedroom window, not seeming to be at all well. The Time Lords and Kazran followed after it, the Time Lady slowly moving to sit beside the creature when it made no move to try and attack, sounding as if it was struggling to breathe with heavy, gasping sounds coming from it. Kazran joined her after a moment, draping a blanket from off his bed over the end of the shark as he knelt beside the Time Lady, while the Doctor stood a short distance away, fiddling with his half of a sonic screwdriver.

"What's the big fishy done to you?" the Doctor complained sadly, lightly hitting the screwdriver against the palm of his hand. He sighed, shaking his head, "Swallowed half of you, that's what. And you were a present from the Hatter…"

"I'll build you a new one," the Hatter told him, shaking her head fondly at him, absently running her hand across the sharks back. She wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with the shark, after all, she wasn't a vet, but judging from the way that it was acting, she was starting to grow quite concerned for the creatures life.

"Thanks, dear," he flashed her a quick grin over his shoulder, before going back to morning his sonic screwdriver, "Half a screwdriver, what use is that?" he muttered, still hitting the device against his hand, "Bad, big fishy," he scolded.

"Hatter?" Kazran looked at the Time Lady, drawing the Doctor's attention back over to them, "I think she's dying," he said quietly.

The Doctor stepped back over to them, trying to scan the shark with what was left of the screwdriver, but it was useless. The Hatter sighed heavily, nodding sadly, "Yes, I believe so," she agreed softly, feeling quite sorry for the shark, regardless of the fact that it very nearly killed them only moments before.

"Half my screwdriver's still inside," the Doctor commented, trying to tap the sonic against the roof top surface, frowning at it in frustration, just trying to get it to work.

"I don't think the big fish can live very long outside the cloud belt," the Time Lady said thoughtfully, taking note that they had only seen little fish thus far, and even they had been few, "I expect that they must only come down this close to the planet when it's a very foggy night to try and find easy food…" she trailed off, catching sight of Kazran's tearful face.

The boy sniffed, tears trickling down his cheeks. The brunet gave him an apologetic look and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer to her side in a one arm hug, trying to comfort him, "Can't we get it back up there?" he asked, looking back down the shark sadly, sniffing, "We were just going to stun it," he shook his head, "I didn't want to kill it".

"She was trying to _eat_ you," the Doctor reminded him gently.

"She was _hungry_ ".

The Hatter sighed heavily, "I'm sorry, Kaz, truly I am," she said sadly, reaching forward to lightly wipe his tears away, "But there's nothing either the Doctor or I can do to save her from down here".

"We could take her back up there, but she'd never survive the trip," the Doctor agreed, nodding as he cast his eyes back over the shark, "We need a fully functioning life-support".

"You mean like an icebox?" Kazran brightened suddenly, looking up to them with a new sense of hope, "Okay," he smiled, climbing onto his feet, running back over to his bedroom window.

The Time Lords blinked, exchanging a quick look as they scrambled back onto their feet, following close behind him as he lead them back through his bedroom and out into a darkened hallway. They made their way around a corner and down a set of stairs, finding themselves entering the same large living room that they had first meet future Kazran in, only it seemed a little more cared for. Kazran headed over to a shelves lining the walls and grabbed an old fashioned lamp, while the Time Lords broke into broad grins, catching sight of a large Christmas tree sitting off to the side of the room.

"Ooh!" the Doctor cheered, excited as he and the Time Lady hurried over to the tree, both momentarily distracted, "A tree!"

The Hatter grabbed one of the bubbles decorating the branches of the tree, taking a sniff of the air, "Oh, I do so love the smell of a fresh Christmas tree," she remarked, glancing at the Doctor with a small sigh, her smile dimming slightly, "To bad they always make me sneeze when they start dying".

Kazran walked passed them, having lit the lamp while they had been distracted, giving them a pointed look as he began heading across the room. The Time Lady took the Doctor's hand, lightly tugging him after her as they followed after the boy, making their way through an archway and off down another hallway, turning to jog off down a long set of grey, concrete steps that was quite a difference from the lavish woods and rich fabrics of the main house. They reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped into a small room with snow covering the ground, the temperature in the air dropping quite a bit, but the Time Lords hardly noticed as their attention was caught by a large, heavy looking metal door with a small, rounded window. They peered through the glass to see the room filled with rows and rows of ice-boxes, each one seeming to be filled with people.

The Doctor whistled softly, eyeing all the boxes curiously, taking note of the white fog lingering in the air throughout the room, "What is this?" he questioned.

"The surplus population," Kazran replied, sighing slightly. He and the Doctor began trying to turn the wheel on the door, struggling to try and open it, "That's what my Dad calls it…" he scrunched up his face with the effort of trying to turn the wheel, "Oh, it's not turning!" the Hatter noticed a keypad by the door and stepped closer to examine it closely, frowning slightly. He grunted slightly, "Oh, why won't it turn?"

"Since we no longer have a working sonic screwdriver, we're going to have to do this by hand," the Hatter commented, glancing back over to them, her eyes landing on Kazran, "I don't suppose you would know the passcode?" she asked hopefully.

"I don't know," he shook his head.

She sighed, casting her eyes over the door, "It's bound to be hooked up to numerus alarms, so trying to brake in manually isn't an option," she muttered, more to herself to the Doctor and Kazran, thinking quickly, "The doors only one obstacle, it's the alarms that we have to focus on getting passed".

The Doctor tried turning the wheel again, struggling with all his strength to try and open it, "We need the number!"

"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older!" Kazran insisted, shaking his head quickly.

The Time Lords paused, turning to look at each other in realisation…

"Oh, of course!" the Hatter gasped, feeling like hitting herself for not thinking about it before. She spun around and made a dash up the stairs, ruffling Kazran's hair as she passed, "Be back in a tick!" she called back to them, grinning.

….

"Seven-two-five-eight!" older Kazran shouted at the recording as all these brand new memories arose in his mind.

"Ah, excellent," the Hatter smiled broadly, making the man jump, looking over to the doorway to see the brunet poking her head around the edge of the door, the TARDIS standing behind her. She tapped the brim of her hat at him, "Thank you very much, that's just what I was after".

And with that, she slammed the door shut and disappeared from sight, the sound of a loud, mechanical wheezing sounding a moment later…

….

"Seven-two-five-eight!" the Hatter shouted down to Kazran and the Doctor as she carefully ran back down the steps, heading back down to the basement, having parked the TARDIS back at the top of the stairs, rather than on the roof, "The code is seven-two-five-eight!" she repeated loudly, reaching the bottom of the stairs, almost slipping on the snowy floor.

Kazran ran over to the keypad and began entering the numbers, unlocking the door. The Doctor grinned and easily spun the wheel before struggling slightly to pull the door open completely, the Hatter moving to help him. It only took them a few moments to swing the door open completely and they stepped inside the large, chilly room within with the fog rolling thickly across the floor around their feet.

"Ah, there's fish down here, too!" the Doctor exclaimed brightly, catching sight of a small school of fish up ahead of them swimming around through the fog as Kazran began leading them through the vault.

"Yeah, but only tiny ones," Kazran remarked, glancing at the iceboxes as they passed them, "The house is built on a fog lake," he informed them, "That's how Dad freezes the people," he came to a stop in front of one of the boxes, "They're all full but…we could borrow one," he moved closer to the box, trying peer up into the rounded glass as the Time Lords stopped behind him. He nodded, pointing at the box, glancing back to them, "Yeah, this one".

The Hatter took the lamp from the boy and stepped closer to the window, moving the lamp up to the glass to see the same blonde women that they had first seen frozen in future Kazran's living room inside the box, "Oh," she blinked, slightly surprised, "Hello, you. Well, this is a surprise".

Kazran frowned slightly, looking back to the Time Lords, curiously, "You know her?"

"Why her?" the Doctor asked quietly, eyeing the women's frozen, peaceful face for a moment, finding it strange that the same women seemed to keep popping up. He glanced back to Kazran, raising his eyebrows with a small, teasing smile crossing his face, "Important, is she?"

He looked down, avoiding their knowing, amused eyes as a faint blush coloured his cheeks. The Hatter struggled to hold back a laugh, catching the Doctor's eye before quickly looking away again before he set her off.

Kazran looked back up to the box, "She won't mind," he told them, his blush fading, "She loves the fish," he moved around the side of the box, typing something into a little keypad, and a blue projection of the same women popped up on the window of the box.

"My name is Abigail Pettigrew," the projection spoke with a faint Welsh accent. The Hatter smiled slightly, the accent reminding her of the Doctor's Mother's First regeneration, and how she had sounded like she was singing her words, rather than speaking them. She had to admit, she quite liked the idea of having a Welsh accent. Hopefully one day she would finally get one, "And I'm very grateful for Mr Sardick's kindness," the projection continued, "My Father…"

Kazran moved back around to watch the projection, "She starts to talk about the fish in a minute," he whispered to the Time Lords, pointing at the image, clearly having watched it several times before.

The Doctor nodded absently, taking the Hatter's hand as they turned and began to wonder off down the row of boxes, still half listening to what the projection was saying behind them as they cast their eyes at the difference boxes as they passed.

"…but I would not allow it," the projection went on, Kazran still watching it, "I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr Elliot Sardick…" the Time Lords paused, the Hatter holding up the lamp towards the window of another box, peering inside to see another woman frozen inside, "…but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish…"

"I don't understand," the Hatter shook her head, frowning as she looked around, seeing that just the row that there were standing in went on and on alone, and that wasn't even counting all the other rows that she knew surrounded them. She glanced back towards Kazran, who was still watching the projection closely, "Why are all these people here, frozen?" she questioned, confused as to why someone would fill their basement full of frozen people, and somehow she doubted it had much to do with charity, "What does your Father get out of all of this?"

Kazran turned away from the projection to look over to them as the Doctor peered into another box with a man frozen inside it, "My Dad lends money," he sighed, "He always takes a family member as…" he grimaced slightly, not seeming to exactly agree, "He calls it, 'security'".

"Hard man to love, your Dad," the Doctor commented, looking back to the boy grimly, "I supposed you know that".

The boy looked down.

"But the thing is that you can be better than your parents," the Hatter said softly, meeting Kazran's eyes across the room as his head snapped up. She gave him a small, comforting smile, "Keep your compassion, Kaz, no matter what, because you can be a better person then your Father. His sins don't have to be your own".

The Doctor squeezed her hand tightly, casting her a quick, searching look, having a feeling that she was thinking about her own parents. Her Father had been cold and distant, so focused on his own work that he hadn't had time to get to know his youngest daughter, while her Mother had been even colder beneath the fake smiles and mock Motherly concern, far too worried about her daughter not living up to her high standards to truly show her any real Motherly affectation. He was amazed, even to this day, that despite the Hatter's cold and distant childhood, that she had grown up to become as compassionate and caring as she was when she could have so easily have gone in a completely different direction, starved for that parental accepts and love that she had missed growing up. He couldn't helping admiring her all the more just thinking about it.

"…I am not alone, and I am at peace," the projection finished.

Kazran moved around the side of the box and hit another button, making a light start to flash inside the unit, starting the warming process, just as a strange beeping-like sound echoed throughout the room, almost sounding like a submarine radar. He frowned at the sound, glancing over to the Time Lords as they looked around, too, "What's wrong?" he asked them.

The Doctor reached inside his blazer pocket, pulling out what was left of the sonic as the light flashed in time with the beeping noise, "Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself," he replied, eyeing the flashing light as Kazran joined them, "It's signalling the other half…"

The Hatter's eyes widened, turning quickly to the Doctor, "Sweetheart…" she breathed, growing alarmed as she remembered something very important about just _where_ the other half was located, and what that beeping sound could only mean.

Kazran looked slowly between the Time Lords, realisation crossing his face, "The other half's inside the shark," he said slowly, his voice sounding slightly shaky.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, swallowing slightly nervously as the three of them all turned to look back down the row and towards the door, the beeping sound seeming to be growing louder, "Sounds like she's woken up…"

"Oh, this isn't very good," the Time Lady muttered, shifting nervously on the spot, edging closer to the Doctor as her eyes darted from the sonic still flashing in his hand and back over to the door, lingering worriedly on Kazran's back for a moment, "If the other half is homing in on the part that we have, then that means…"

And suddenly, before she could finish her sentence, the shark loomed up out of the fog around them, floating above them with her jaw wide open with an angry growl. They flinched back, the Hatter unable to help the high-pitched yelp that burst out of her mouth before she could stop it, just as it dived at them, snapping its jaw, but they managed to throw themselves out of the way before it could get them. The Time Lords threw themselves to the left, slamming hard into several boxes and toppling onto the floor in a heap as the boxes fell around them, one narrowly missing landing on the Hatter's legs. Kazran took off in the opposite direction, running off, trying to avoid the shark.

"Kazran!" the Hatter shouted frantically, struggling to pull herself up, half tangled up with the Doctor, barely noticing that her hat had flown off in the fall. They finally managed to pull themselves back onto their feet and took off running in the direction that they had seen Kazran go, racing past containers and dodging around them, searching urgently for the boy, when…

The sound of beautiful singing echoed throughout the room. The Time Lords came to a stop, almost slamming into one of the containers in their sudden stop, turning to blink at each other in confusion.

"Do you hear…" the Doctor began softly.

"Singing?" the Time Lady finished with a whisper, nodding.

They turned back and hurried off in the direction of the sound, following the beautiful singing back the way they had come, the Doctor stumbling against one of the boxes as they stepped back into the row, flashing the sonic around in his hand as he tried to regain his balance. The Hatter shook his head in amusement and grabbed his shoulder, helping him to steady before nodding down the row to where Kazran was standing, watching as the young blonde women, Abigail, knelt on the floor in the fog, singing as she pattered the shark calmly.

"Beautiful," the brunet breathed, very impressed, admiring the singing. The Doctor liked to claim that her First regeneration had been a lovely singer, but she hadn't had a patch on Abigail's voice in any of her past bodies.

Slowly, the Time Lords approached Kazran and the women, coming to a stop to watch for themselves as the singing continued, the boy seeming to be completely entranced.

"It's not really the singing, of course," the Doctor remarked. The Hatter elbowed his side lightly, rolling her eyes slightly in exasperation. Way to go and ruin the moment, even if she did have to agree with him…

"Yes, it is," the boy insisted at once, not taking his eyes off Abigail.

"Nah".

"The fish _love_ the singing," he smiled, his eyes bright, "Its _true_ ".

"Nah," he shook his head, paying no attention to the look the Hatter was giving him, clearly telling him to just drop it and leave it be for now, "The notes resonate in the ice, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog…ow!" he yelped suddenly, slapping the back of his neck, turning around to narrow his eyes at something behind him, "A fish bit me," he complained.

The Hatter sighed, elbowing his side a bit harder, "Then stop talking, sweetheart…" she trailed off as a thought occurred to her, glancing at Abigail, who glanced over to them, still singing, "Oh, but of course," she gasped in realisation, growing excited, "That must be how the machine controls the cloud belt by vibrating the ice crystals at exactly the right frequency, you could align the clouds however you liked…ow!" she exclaimed, jumping and slapping a hand to the back of her own neck, feeling a small stinging sensation, a bit like someone sticking her with a pin. She shot a dark look over her shoulder, noticing a tiny fish swimming off into the fog, "Well, that's just rude," she huffed.

The Doctor gave her a smug look, "You were saying, dear?"

"Look," Kazran cut in as the Hatter went to say something, narrowing her eyes at the Doctor, "The fish like the singing, okay?" he said, fixing them both with a small glare, "Now, shut up!" and he turned back to watch the singing.

The Doctor opened his mouth, looking as if he wanted to say something as he pointed at the boy, before reluctantly lowering his finger with a pout, "Okay…" he muttered childishly.

"Let's just listen, shall we?" the Hatter murmured, taking his hand as they all turned back to watch the singing, enjoying the sweet melody as it washed over all of them.

 _ **Only two more chapters left until we get season six, I can't wait! Oh, and I've finally put up a poll on my profile for what Classic episode I should write next, so please vote. Next chapter, a big surprise, how will the Hatter react to Marylyn? And a shark sleigh ride. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_


	28. Chapter 28 The Christmas Carol, Part 2

_**The Christmas Carol, Part 2**_

After a little while, the shark had eventually been soothed down enough that the Time Lords managed to rig together a pulley system to pull the shark into Abigail's now empty icebox, closing and sealing it inside, setting it to freeze. While they dealt with the shark, the Hatter dashed upstairs and brought the TARDIS to land in the vault, leaving the doors open for Kazran and Abigail to peer inside, their eyes widening in disbelief and amazement as they took in the large, brightly lit room within.

"It's bigger on the inside…" Kazran breathed, his eyes roaming around the impossibly large room inside such a tiny box.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, glancing over to them as the Hatter quickly checked over the locks, just to be safe, "It's the colour. Really knocks the walls back".

The Time Lady shot him an amused look, "I don't think that's quite how it works, sweetheart," she remarked, shaking her head.

"Of course it does, dear," he replied, flashing her a broad smile as he looked back down to the container, knocking his knuckles against the small window, "Right, then!" he straightened as Kazran and Abigail joined them, "Shark in a box to go!"

The Doctor and the Hatter rigged the pulley system back up, this time using it to pull the container through the TARDIS doors, trying hard not to scrap against the side of the doorframe as they pulled it further into the console room, leaving it on the floor off from the doors. Kazran closed the doors behind him as he and Abigail continued to stare around in awe of the room, moving up to join the Time Lords as they began dancing around the controls, setting them off.

"This is…amazing!" Abigail exclaimed, grinning broadly as she stared around.

"Nah, this is transport," the Doctor smiled, exchanging a quick look with the Time Lady as he hit a button, "We keep amazing…" he took the Hatter's hand and ran back down the steps, heading over to the doors as Kazran and Abigail hurried along after them, eagerly awaiting what they had to show them next. He grabbed the doorhandles and pulled the doors open, "…out here," he finished brightly.

Abigail and Kazran jaws dropped as they stared outside as they saw the sky full of fish, swimming around through the cloudy sky. It truly was among one of the most beautiful and magical sights the Hatter had ever seen.

The Hatter laughed, planting a delighted kiss on the Doctor's cheek as they watched the fish swimming about, "Oh, this is simply gorgeous," she said excitedly.

He grinned back at her, wrapping an arm around her waist, pleased to see that she was enjoying it so much, "You've got that right," he agreed at once. He had seen many skies before in his centuries of travelling, but few came close to comparing to what this sky had to offer. He gave himself a shake after a moment, remembering that they had work to do still as he spun around, clapping his hands, "Come on, then," he said, heading over to the box, "Let's get this shark out".

The Time Lady cast the sky one last admiring look before pulling herself away from the doorway, heading over to help the Doctor as they began activating the defrost program. A few moments passed as the Time Lords stood back from the container, just as the shark burst out of the box and swam straight for the open doors, seeming slightly slow and confused after its little nap, not even looking back to them as Kazran and Abigail moved back to stand in the doorway, watching it swim off to join the rest of the fish in the clouds.

"Hey!" Kazran cheered, smiling widely as the wind ruffled his hair, staring outside, "Look at her go!"

The Doctor closed the container door, when the Hatter grabbed his arm, frowning as she nodded down to where she had noticed a number eight on a timer on the front of the door, just below the window.

"How curious…" she muttered, eying the counter thoughtfully for a moment, "Abigail," she called, catching the blonde's attention as she turned away from the door, moving closer to them, "This number eight here, what does it mean?" she asked, looking up to the women, still frowning.

Abigail hesitated slightly, glancing down at the number, "It pertains to me, ma'am, not the fish," she told them, clearly trying to avoid the subject.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, casting the number a curious look himself, before looking back up to the women, "But _how_?"

She eyed him slightly, a small frown of her own crossing her face, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"

"Are you in need of a doctor?" the Hatter questioned gently, stepping around the container and closer to the women, feeling a spark of concern. There was something very wrong that they were missing, she could feel it, she just couldn't figure out what yet, "And exactly how many doctors do you have?"

She looked down sadly, looking torn between answering, just a loud ding of a timer went off on the console.

"Ah!" the Doctor jumped, whirling back around, "Sorry!" he dashed back up the steps and up to the controls, the Hatter casting Abigail one last searching look before hurrying after him, "Time's up, kids!" he announced.

Kazran turned away from the door, frowning, "Why?" he whined slightly.

The Hatter flashed him a smile of her shoulder, her eyes twinkling, "Because it's Christmas Day!"

Together, the Time Lords piloted the TARDIS back to the ice-box chamber, putting Abigail's box back in its rightful position again. Abigail took a deep breath and stepped into her box, looking back to the Time Lords and Kazran as they gathered around the doorway. She smiled brightly, "If you should ever wish to visit again…" she began.

"Well, you know," the Doctor shrugged, wrapping an arm around the Hatter's waist, exchanging a quick look with her, "If we're ever in the neighbourhood…"

"They come every Christmas Eve," Kazran cut in, his eyes lighting up in excitement as he looked at Abigail.

The Doctor's head snapped around to look at him, his eyes widening as the Hatter struggled to hold back a laugh, "What?" he half hissed.

"Yeah, they do, every time," he continued, nodding quickly, ignoring the Doctor's steadily panicked expression, "They _promise_!"

The Doctor glanced quickly back to Abigail, "No, we don't…" he started, shaking his head.

The Hatter covered his mouth with her hand, giving him a smirk, "Of course we come every Christmas Eve," she turned back to Abigail, her smirk turning into a grin, ignoring the Doctor's eyes that she could practically feel burning a hole in her hat. She really didn't see why he was fussing, after all, they did have a time machine, so they didn't exactly have to wait. She wiggled her fingers at her in a little wave, dropping her hand from the Doctor's mouth, "Sleep tight".

"Wait, hang on…" he tried hurriedly, holding up a finger.

But Kazran slammed the door of the container shut.

….

Once the Doctor had gotten over his little panic about spending every Christmas Eve with Kazran and Abigail, the Hatter finally managed to get him to see how it might actually work in their favour to try and help make future Kazran into a kinder, less bitter old man. With several ideas in mind, the Time Lords leaped a year in time, the Doctor grabbing a harness and slung it over his shoulder, winking at the Hatter as they landed in the ice-box chamber to find Kazran already standing outside, waiting for them. The Doctor, already wearing a Santa hat while the Hatter wore a green and red striped one, chucked another red Santa hat at the boy, who smiled broadly as he caught and stuck it on his head.

They made their way down the row to stand outside Abigail's container, programing it to defrost. A few moments passed before the defrost was completed and the door unlocked, swinging open.

"Merry Christmas!" the three of them all called joyfully, grinning broadly at the woman.

"Doctor!" Abigail smiled happily at them, pleased to see them despite feeling as if she had only just said goodbye to them, "Hatter!"

"Well, come on!" the Hatter said cheerfully, grabbing her arm and lightly tugging her out of the box. She and the Doctor turned, jogging back up the row and towards the TARDIS, Kazran and Abigail hurrying along after them.

"What are we going to do?" the woman asked after them.

"They've got a great plan!" Kazran informed her, grinning with excitement, "Wait till you hear!"

The Time Lords led them upstairs and outside onto the street, heading over to a small two wheel sleigh. The Doctor set to work rigging the harness up to it, while the Hatter finished explaining what they planned to do to Abigail.

"You are out of your minds," she shook her head at them once the Time Lady had finished explaining their plan, "This will never work".

"You know, every time someone's says that we are mad, it only makes me want to prove them correct," the Hatter commented lightly, shrugging, amused as she glanced back to the blonde, "And of course it will work, just not with that attitude," she pointed at her with a mock scolding tone of voice.

"Don't think shark, think dolphin," the Doctor added brightly, finishing with the harness, moving around to pick Kazran up and sit him up on the back of the sleigh, since he still a bit too short to climb up himself.

"A shark isn't a dolphin!" Abigail argued as he stepped away from the sleigh, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out his broken sonic screwdriver.

"It's _nearly_ a dolphin," he replied, unconcerned.

"Well, technically, she does have a point there," the Hatter couldn't help conceding, glancing at the Doctor.

He looked back to the two women, his eyes flickering between them both as he aimed his sonic up at the sky, "That's where you're wrong, because…" he paused, opening and closing his mouth for a moment as the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, crossing her arms across her chest. He looked away, realising he really didn't have an answer, "Shut up…" he muttered.

The Time Lady laughed, moving closer to him to kiss his cheek, "Have I mentioned how adorable you are when you get all flustered, sweetheart?" she said softly to him, straightening his bowtie absently.

He paused, pretending to think about, "No…no, I don't think you have," he mockingly shook his head.

She laughed again, shaking her head at him, reaching up to lightly pat his cheek, "Well, you are," she assured him, kissing his cheek again, this time lingering for a second longer, "Very much so".

"It could be anywhere," Kazran sighed, climbing down from the sleigh, moving closer to the Time Lords with a hopeful expression. The Doctor cleared his throat, turning back to flashing his sonic up at the sky, "Will it really come?" he asked them.

"No chance," the Doctor said, glancing back to them, "Completely impossible…" his eyes meet the Hatter's, breaking into a broad grin, "Except…"

"At Christmas Eve," the Hatter finished, winking back to the boy as the sound of a faint beeping noise echoed down to them from above.

….

The Doctor was at the reins of the sleigh, the Time Lady sitting beside him, laughing loudly as one arm was linked around his and the other held onto her Santa hat, keeping it in place while they flew through the night sky, their new shark friend pulling the carriage along for them, Kazran and Abigail sitting in the back. The Hatter was still surprised that they had managed to hook the shark up with the harness without anyone losing a limb.

"How are we going to get back?" Kazran shouted over all the wind and their laughter as they flew past clouds in the darkened night sky, a wide grin across his face, clearly loving every moment of the ride.

"We don't know!" the Doctor called back, still laughing.

"Do you have a plan?" Abigail asked loudly.

The Time Lords looked at each other, laughing even harder, "Us with a plan?" the Hatter replied through giggles, shaking her head, "Never!"

They're laughter and delight continued as they flew over the city below, cheering loudly as they went, loving every second of the ride, even startling a few people in the streets below as they flew above them.

…

"Best Christmas Eve ever!" Abigail announced, smiling broadly as she stepped back into her ice-box, turning back around to look at the Time Lords and Kazran in the doorway.

They had spent the entire evening simply flying around the skies, weaving past chimneys on roofs and dodging around thick clouds as they went, the shark practically having free reign to guide them wherever it wanted because the Doctor, or though he didn't admit it to Kazran and Abigail, really didn't have a clue on how control it. Eventually, they had been forced to return back down to the ground when they noticed the pinkish glow of the sun rising on the horizon, releasing the shark that the Hatter had dubbed 'Lucy' back up to the clouds, and walking Abigail back to the ice-box vault to say goodbye.

"Till the next one!" Kazran corrected her brightly, smiling just as widely.

The Time Lords gave her a wave as the door closed, freezing her once more.

….

"Merry Christmas!" the Time Lords and Kazran cried joyfully, opening the door of Abigail's ice-box another year later.

"Doctor!" Abigail grinned, her eyes lighting up as she caught sight of the Time Lords, noticing their hands interlocked, "Hatter!"

"Come on," the Hatter flashed her a bright smile, grabbing her hand with her free one and lightly tugging her out of the box, leading her off down the aisle to where they had parked the TARDIS.

"Where to this time?" she asked, excitedly, hurrying along after the Time Lords.

The Doctor glanced back to her, "Did we mention, at any point, all time and space…?" he replied, winking in a very Hatter-like fashion.

….

Another year went by, and the Time Lords and Kazran grinned as the door to Abigail's container swung open, the three of them all wearing a fez. The Doctor's cheeks were slightly pink, standing slightly closer to the rather smug looking Hatter, having taken a short…brake before their short jump into the future after the Time Lady had suggested that they should go somewhere where they could wear fezzes.

"Merry Christmas!" the three shouted, holding out their arms.

Abigail returned their grins, "Doctor, Hatter!" she laughed.

….

"Merry Christmas!" the Doctor and the Hatter exclaimed cheerfully, holding out their hands as the door to the ice-box swung open a year later, while Kazran raised his head only very slightly, not speaking, feeling quite subconscious of the pimple breakout covering his face and his voice possibly cracking. All three of them had scarfs draped around their necks, the Doctor wearing a brown and mustard yellow striped one, the Time Lady wearing her Ninth Selves black and purple Burberry one that she had looped twice around her neck due to its great length, along with a matching beanie, and Kazran wearing a multi-coloured one similar to the Forth Doctor's scarf, only it was far shorter than the original scarf had been.

"Doctor!" Abigail smiled widely at them, her eyes lighting up, "Hatter!"

…

"Merry Christmas!" the Time Lords and Kazran called as they flung the door of the container open, smiling broadly at the women.

Abigail returned the smile, but her eyes were immediately drawn to Kazran, who had grown up quite a bit in the past year, now only just an inch shorter than the Doctor and the Hatter with his face clear and his features having grown sharper, cutting quite a dashing figure in a suit and bowtie.

"Kazran?" the blonde breathed, staring at him in a completely new light, as if she had never really seen him before. The Doctor and the Hatter exchanged a knowing look, the Time Lady struggling to stop herself from cooing, suddenly reminded of when her youngest son had developed his own first crush. Come to think of it, he had gotten into a lot more trouble during that period, no doubt trying to show-off.

The Time Lady cleared her throat slightly, lightly tugging the Doctor away and off towards the TARDIS, Kazran and Abigail following close behind them as they entered the time machine, the Time Lords heading up to the controls.

"You've grown," Abigail remarked, still looking at Kazran as they made their way up to the controls, hardly noticing the Doctor and the Hatter dancing around the console.

"Yeah," Kazran smiled slightly, shrugging a little bashfully.

She grinned at him, amused, "And now you're blushing".

That only made his blush grow darker, "Sorry," he mumbled, embarrassed as he avoided her eyes.

She laughed softly, shaking her head at him, "That's okay," she assured him.

"So, Doctor, Hatter!" he cleared his throat, almost nervously as he moved around to join the Time Lords as they fiddled with the controls, "Where this time?" he questioned.

"Well, you are more than welcome to decide," the Hatter told him, shrugging, pretending that she hadn't been listening, "Pick any Christmas Eve you want, we have an entire list right here if you need help".

"Might I make a request?" Abigail cut in, catching their attention.

The Doctor smiled at her, nodding, "Of course".

She returned the smile, "This one".

….

Together, they made their way through the streets of the city, the Doctor and the Hatter holding hands as they trailed behind Abigail in a hooded cloak to hide her face, letting her lead them as she pointed out shops as they passed them, seeming to be enjoying seeing all the things that had changed since she had been put into the ice. Kazran followed close behind the blonde, listening intently to everything that she said, hardly seeming to notice the amused and knowing expressions on the Time Lords faces as they watched the pair. Eventually Abigail came to a small house and moved closer to peer inside a half-moon window, watching as a family within prepared for Christmas, while the Time Lords and Kazran stepped back, watching.

Kazran frowned slightly in confusion, glancing back to the Doctor and the Hatter, "Who are they?" he asked.

"They're her family," the Hatter said quietly, having caught a glimpse of the family inside. The young boy looked almost identical to the boy of the family that they had first meet earlier that night, only he couldn't possibly be the same person, which meant that the young boy had to be to be the Father of the family in the future. She turned back to watch Abigail, her face softening, "That women with the braid, she's Abigail's sister," she nodded to where a women was just visible through the window with a long braid hanging over her shoulder.

"We met her once, when she was…older…" the Doctor added, taking the Hatter's hand, recalling the white hair, rather frail looking women of the small family in the future.

Kazran turned back to look over to Abigail, before quickly turning back to them, looking slightly concerned, "Abigail's crying," he whispered.

The Time Lady smiled at him, giving him a pointed look, "Yes, she is," she agreed, hoping he might take the hint.

He frowned, glancing back over to Abigail as tears trickled down her cheeks, still watching her family through the window with a pained expression, "When girls are crying, aren't you supposed to talk to them?" his eyes came to rest of the brunet, figuring she would know, since she was a girl.

The Doctor thought for a moment, suddenly looking unsure, "I have absolutely no idea," he turned to the Hatter, who shook her head at him. When it came to the Hatter, he had always acted on instinct, things just seemed to come naturally between them, and knowing when to comfort her had been one of those things. She had always been good at hiding when she was hurt or upset behind smiles and laughter, but when she didn't bother to try hiding how she truly felt, that was when he always knew that it was bad. But he didn't blame Kazran for being so confused, he had to admit that the first time he saw the Hatter crying, he had been just as clueless and awkward, trying to work out what to do, scared that he might make things worse by saying the wrong thing.

"Men," the Hatter sighed, rolling her eyes slightly as she turned to focus on Kazran, "It's not so much talking to them, but more listening to what the girl has to say," she tried to explain to him as he listened carefully, "Girls, when they're upset, they like to talk about it and having someone there to listen can work wonders. You don't have to say anything, just be patient and listen closely," she gave him a gentle smile, lightly nudging his arm, "Now, go," she said sternly, nodding over towards Abigail as Kazran blinked at her, startled, "And trust me, this is one way to look good in her eyes".

He blushed at her last remark, shifting awkwardly as the Doctor gave him an encouraging look. He smiled slightly nervously and turned, walking over to stand beside Abigail.

"Nicely done, dear," the Doctor grinned at the Time Lady, kissing her cheek.

She returned the grin, "Well, you were clearly going to be no help to him," she remarked teasingly.

He blushed slightly, "That's your area, though," he defended himself, waving a hand at her as she raised an eyebrow at him, "Your good at this sort of…stuff".

"What 'stuff?'"

"Feelings and…things".

"Just as long as it's not my own," she replied, shaking her head at herself. She really was never going to be able to live down not knowing how he felt about her. _Ever_. They turned back to watch as Kazran and Abigail talked softly, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, sweetheart?" she asked after a moment, glancing back to him.

"What, that we should have fish fingers and custard when this is all finished? Yes, I think so".

The Hatter laughed softly, rolling her eyes fondly, "No, that _wasn't_ what I was thinking".

"Oh," he blinked, disappointed.

"You weren't even close. No, I was actually thinking that we should go and say 'hello' to Abigail's family. Its Christmas time, it seems unfair that they should miss out on spending time together".

His eyes brightened, "Ooh, even better," he flashed her another broad smile.

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Even better then fish fingers and custard, then?"

"Well…" he paused, pretending to think about it for a moment, "Maybe just a little bit".

She laughed at him again, making him smile as she lightly tugged on his hand, pulling him along with her as they headed around to the front of the house, going completely unnoticed by Kazran and Abigail. Somehow, they managed to talk their way inside the house…well, more like they knocked on the door and waited for Abigail's sister to answer the door, practically barging inside as they rambled about needing to inspect the windows in the area.

The house was very small with the kitchen and living room in one small, narrow room that the family was still busy decorating with lights and other Christmas decorations, most of the furniture looked quite old and shabby. The family stared at them, confused as they made their way through the room and over to the window, throwing the old curtains open to reveal Kazran and Abigail still standing outside, blinking at them in surprise.

The Time Lords grinned at them through the glass, making a motion for them to come inside, "Come in!" they called through the glass as the family began laughing behind them, delighted, recognising Abigail instantly.

The couple broke into smiles, exchanging a look as they turned and began to head inside.

….

It was later in the evening and the Doctor and the Hatter had taken it upon themselves to keep the boy entertained, while Kazran helped the child's Father to hang decorations and Abigail sat further up the table, talking with her sister.

The Doctor held out a fan of cards in his hands towards the boy, trying to show him a card trick, "Pick a card, any card at all," he said to him as the Hatter watched from beside him, smiling. The boy reached out and picked a card, glancing down at it as the Doctor shuffled the cards left in his hands, "Memories the card, put it back in the deck," he instructed him, before pointing at him sternly, "Don't let either of us see it," the boy nodded and carefully put the card back into the deck, watching as he shuffled the cards together again.

"Is this what it looked like last year?" the Father asked, looking across the room to his wife with a frown, busy hanging a string of lights over the mantel place, Kazran standing beside him with half the lights draped around his neck, trying to help.

Abigail's sister looked over to him, "It doesn't have to be exactly the same," she shook her head at him, amused.

The man looked back to the lights, eyeing it for a moment before glancing back to his wife, "I'm starting again," he decided, moving to take down the lights that he had just put up, looking over to Kazran, "Come on, Kazran, we're starting again".

The Doctor finished shuffling the cards and, with a flourish of his wrist, pulling a card out of the stack and showed it to the boy, "Three of clubs!" he announced proudly.

The boy smiled slowly, looking at the card, "No".

The Hatter laughed, shrugging innocently at the Doctor as he mock glared at her, "Nice try, sweetheart," she smiled at him, reaching over to pat his shoulder soothingly.

He pouted at her, glancing at the card in his hand, quickly turning back to the boy, "You sure?" he asked him, not willing to admit that he might have been mistaken, "I've very good at card tricks".

"Oh, yes, wonderfully so," the Time Lady remarked quietly, rolling her eyes fondly. She seemed to recall another incident in which he tried to do a card trick in his Forth regeneration and failed, quite badly.

"It wasn't the three of clubs," the boy replied, shaking his head.

"Well, of course it wasn't…" the Doctor said quickly, tossing the card over his shoulder, reaching inside his blazer pocket, "Because it was…" he whipped out another card, holding it up for the boy to see, "…the seven of diamonds!"

He laughed slightly, "No".

"Oi!" he pouted, throwing the card down, trying hard to ignore the Hatter's giggles from beside him, looking at the boy, "Stop it, you're doing it wrong".

"No, sweetheart," the Hatter shook her head, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek, "You are just bad at cards".

"I am not!" he insisted at once, huffing childishly.

"And you're lucky you're cute," she commented dryly, playfully flicking the tip of his nose, just as he enjoyed doing to her.

Abigail's sister suddenly stood from her chair, a determined expression on her face as she turned to face the room, catching everyone's attention, "Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend," she announced to the room, making everyone stare at her, startled.

"Isabella!" Abigail cried, grabbing her sister's arm, frowning up at her.

"Instead…" Isabella continued, ignoring her sister with a smile, her expression softening, "We'll have it tonight!"

….

The Doctor and the Hatter sat at the end of the kitchen table, while Abigail's family and Kazran sat around it, everyone holding a Christmas cracker between them as the table was covered with food, more than enough for them all.

"One, two, three…pull!" the Doctor shouted, and everyone pulled the crackers around the table, cheering loudly in delight as everyone won at least one prize. The Hatter quickly tucked her hat in her jacket, swopping it for the bright green and purple crown that she had won in her cracker, wearing it proudly.

The boy smiled as he pulled a folded up card from his cracker, "How did you do that?" he asked, looking up to the Doctor.

He looked at him smugly, "Your card, I believe," he said happily, wrapping his arm around the Time Lady's waist.

The boy unfolded the card and held it up to show the eight of hearts, shaking his head, "No".

The Hatter raised her eyebrows at the Doctor, smirking, "Well, sweetheart?" she said teasingly to him, wondering if he was finally ready to admit defeat.

The Doctor looked between them both, pouting again, "Oh…shut up!" he whined, making everyone, save for Kazran and Abigail, who were too busy looking at each other, laugh.

The Time Lady smiled, kissing his cheek, "As I said, you're lucky you're cute," she whispered to him, and while he was distracted, sneakily snatched a roast potato off his plate with her folk.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, realising to late what she had done, making her laugh loudly.

Kazran managed to pull himself away from Abigail, laughing slightly as he held up his small cup, "Merry Christmas!" he called to the rest of the table.

Everyone held up their own cups in a toast, too, "Merry Christmas!" they all cheered in unison, before digging into their meal.

The Hatter glanced over to Kazran and Abigail, noticing how close they were sitting, exchanging a small, secretive smile with each other as they toasted their cups together. She couldn't help smile softly, happily tucking into the potato she had stolen.

….

With their meal finished, it was time for Abigail to return to her ice-box, so the Time Lords and Kazran returned to the chamber. The blonde smiled broadly as they reached her container, turning around to hug the Hatter tightly, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she laughed, releasing the Time Lady, who was still wearing her Christmas crown, and turning to hug the Doctor.

"Ah!" the Doctor grinned, pulling back from the hug, "Till the next one".

"I look forward to it," she nodded to them, before glancing at Kazran and back to the Time Lords, "Now I'd like to say good night to Kazran".

"Of course, yes," he said, glancing over to Kazran, still smiling. The couple smiled awkwardly at each other, casting quick looks back to the Time Lords as the Hatter sighed, reaching up to rub her forehead, "Well, on you go," he looked between them both, completely oblivious.

The Hatter took his hand, lightly nudging his side with a pointed look, "Perhaps we should be on our way, sweetheart?" she tried, quickly shooting Abigail and Kazran an apologetic look.

He blinked at her, still not getting it as he looked back to the pair, noticing how they kept glancing at each other…and it finally hit him, "Oh!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening in realisation, "Oh, yes, right!" he nodded quickly, pointing at Kazran, who blushed and smiled, embarrassed, "Sorry, we'll, um…" he cleared his throat, pointing back over his shoulder to where they had parked the TARDIS, glancing at Abigail, "We'll go, then. Good night," he turned to Kazran, pointing to him again with a smile, "Good luck…night!" he corrected as the Hatter nudging his side sharply, "Good night!"

"Good night to you both," the Time Lady added, giving the couple a bright smile and wink, "Come along, Doctor," she said a bit firmer, turning and starting off down the aisle.

The Doctor began to back away, only to walk straight into an ice-box, almost toppling it over as a loud, metal bang rang out throughout the room, making the brunet cringe and turn back around, shaking her head at him in exasperation, "Sorry!" he whispered into the small window of the box.

"Oh, honestly," she muttered, grabbing his hand and pulling her along with her up the aisle, away from the couple, wondering why she hadn't just done so to begin with. She really ought to have known that he would end up walking into one of the containers with how clumsy and awkward this regeneration was, especially when it came to dealing with things like this.

"Doctor!" Kazran hissed after them, hurrying after them. They stopped and turned back to face him, both curious to see what he wanted now. He shifted embarrassedly on the spot, not quite meeting their eyes, "I…er, I _think_ she's going to kiss me," he whispered to them.

The Hatter smiled faintly, glancing at the Doctor, "I think I'll leave this one to you, sweetheart," she said quietly, turning to head off again.

"Why me?" the Doctor frowned, slightly alarmed that she was going to leave him to deal with something like this. This was more her area, after all.

"Because you are a man and I've already had to explain comforting girls when they cry," she pattered his shoulder, kissing his cheek briefly, "It's your turn now, just try not to scar him too much," and with one final smile to Kazran, she turned and headed off, whistling a Christmas tune to herself.

He watched her go, opening and closing his mouth for a moment before sighing, turning back to Kazran's nervous face. Of course she had to go and leave him to deal with the hardest question, this was probably her way of getting him back for…well, any number of things he might have done over the centuries. He never could quite tell with her, she had a very good memory for such things. He glanced back over Kazran's shoulder to see Abigail watching them with a small, confused frown, "Yeah, I think you're right…" he agreed with his previous question, grabbing his shoulders and lightly pushing him back around towards Abigail, giving him a little push in her direction.

Kazran only moved to follow after him as he began to set off down the aisle, "I've never kissed anyone before," he admitted quietly as the Doctor stopped again, "What do I do?"

He sighed heavily, trying to work out what he could possibly have done to have deserved this punishment? She couldn't possibly still be upset over the time he accidently caused her hat to fly off a cliff while they had been on an ice planet in his Forth and her Third bodies, could she? Oh, who was he kidding, of course she would still be upset, it had been one of her darling hats, causing any harm to one of them was practically unforgivable in her mind.

He gave himself a sharp shake, trying to clear his thoughts to focus on Kazran's little problem as he wrapped his arm around the young man's shoulders, putting their backs to Abigail behind them, "Well…try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky," he advised him seriously.

"Why?"

"Because you'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan. Off you go, then!" he lightly tapped Kazran's cheek and nudged him back off down the aisle again.

"Now?" he asked in a frantic whisper, hurrying back to him, his eyes wide, "I kiss her _now_?"

He sighed slightly, stopping once more and turning to the panicked boy, "Kazran, trust me," he tried to tell him, recalling his own adolescents and all the things he missed out on doing because he was simply too afraid of how the Hatter might react to his feelings for her. Even back then, he had known that her friendship meant everything to him and the risk of possibly losing it had simply been too high to take the chance of telling her the truth, "It's this or invite Abigail up to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver together instead," he gestured between himself and Kazran, casting a quick glance over his shoulder towards the TARDIS, sighing heavily again, "Don't make my mistakes," he grabbed his shoulders, spinning back around towards Abigail, "Now, _go_ ".

And with that, he lightly pushed him back towards the women and turned back around, smiling softly to himself. In a way, he could see himself in Kazran, so painfully awkward and clearly head over heels for a girl, the only difference was that he wasn't so scared stiff of possibly losing Abigail's friendship that he was unwilling to admit his feelings for her, he just needed a push. He couldn't help wondering if someone had done the same for him, if he might have told the Hatter all those centuries ago, too? Would they have dated throughout school and then run away, marrying the first chance they got, avoiding those terrible arrange marriages they had both been forced into? Would they have had a family of their own, rather then watched while they had separate families? Or would they have things fallen apart due to their age and lack of experience? After all, while he might have been miserable during his first marriage, it had taught him many valuable life lessons and brought him two children and a granddaughter, and he already knew that the Hatter would never imagine a time in which she hadn't had her own children. He supposed that in the end, it all worked out and possibly for the best, who knew just what might have happened if they had been together back in school?

The Doctor gave himself a sharp shake and headed back to the TARDIS, casting a quick glance back over his shoulder, just in time to see Abigail pull Kazran in for a deep kiss, his arms flaying about for a moment before settling on her waist. He shook his head, pulling the door open, and stepped inside with every intention of making sure that he started making up for previous mistakes…

….

"You have got to be kidding," the Hatter exclaimed in an angry whisper, practically hissing the words as she and the Doctor crouched in the bushes of a large Hollywood mansion, the sound of piano music drifting out through the open sliding doors of the house while guests wondered around the patio area a short distance away from their hiding spot, all dressed in beautiful 50's style gowns and suits.

After taking a trip to Australia, they had decided to go to a Hollywood party in 1952, and for the most part the evening had been a blast. The Hatter dressed up in a bright red flowing gown with off the shoulder sleeves, her hair curled up on top of her head with a red pillbox hat sitting on an angle, along with red lipstick, while the Doctor had worn a white tuxedo. They had spent the evening dancing and even catching up with their old friend Frank Sinatra, who had insisted that the three of them should sing together.

At some point during the evening, the Doctor had disappeared and the Hatter had made her way around the party, happily meeting a few new faces and old ones, when the Doctor had appeared again, looking very flustered with his tie undone and a smear of red lipstick across his cheek that certainly hadn't come from the Time Lady. He had grabbed her hand and practically dragged outside, much to her confusion and alarm, and pulled her into a row of thick bushes, looking around nervously. Somehow he had managed to get himself engaged to none other than Marilyn Monroe. Needless to say, the Hatter wasn't impressed.

The brunet sighed heavily, reaching up to rub her forehead, "Would you please explain to me again how this even happened in the first place?" she asked.

"Uh, well…" the Doctor cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to brush away a twig from one of the bushes that was digging into his side, "I'm not sure what happened. We were just talking when she kissed me…" the Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, "On the cheek," he added quickly, going on, "And started rambling about a chapel and calling a car to come pick us up…"

"How does this keep happening?" she moaned, shaking her head in exasperation, "I leave you alone for ten minutes and you end up getting engaged to historical figures".

"Women find me charming".

She have him a dark look, "Well, this women finds you to be an idiot," she said flatly.

He coughed, shifting slightly, realising that he probably shouldn't have said that last part, "Sorry, dear," he tried to wrap his arm around her waist, but stopped quickly at the narrowed eyed glare she gave him, practically daring him to try to touching her right now, "I didn't mean it to happen," he defended himself hurriedly, trying to keep his voice down, "It just sort of…happened".

"Yes, and because it 'just sort of happened,' we get to spend the evening hiding in the shrubbery, and not for the reasons why most romantic couples hide in bushes, either! Did you even think to mention that you were already married?"

"I tried to tell her, but she was too busy going on about chapels".

The Hatter huffed and looked away from him, annoyed, "And now, thanks to you, we have to leave the party early, because I am not standing by and watching you get married to _another_ women again".

He blinked at her, unable to help the small smile from crossing his face, "Are you jealous?"

"Jealousy would imply that Marilyn took something that I wanted, but since I already have you, there's no reason for me to be jealous. I'm just annoyed that we can't even go to a nice party without women throwing themselves at you, enlarging that already huge ego of yours and making me wonder why I even bothered to go to the effort of dressing up in the first place".

"You do look stunning…"

"Save it," she cut him off, holding up a hand with a warning look, "I'm too annoyed to even listen to your compliments. Now, let's go and find Kazran and Abigail so that we can get out of here before blondie finds you".

The Doctor quickly nodded, swallowing slightly nervously as he popped his head up over the bushes, checking to make sure that it was clear before he stood, brushing dirt and twigs off his suit as the Hatter climbed onto her feet, doing the same thing with another annoyed huff. They quickly noticed Abigail and Kazran off in the distance by the pool, quickly hurrying down to them.

"Guys!" he called urgently to the couple, glancing worriedly back behind him to make sure that there wasn't a blonde women following after them, "We've really got to go quite quickly," he told them, "I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe, and I think the Hatter's seriously considering murdering me…"

"I can think of a few ways to do it," the Hatter agreed, eyeing him with a glint in her eyes that he had only ever seen when she was facing the Master or the Daleks.

He felt himself pale, " _Guys_!" he shouted again, his voice growing slightly higher pitched as he turned to properly face the couple, only to find the pair locked in a tight, passionate embrace, completely oblivious to the Time Lords, "You…" he blinked, stepping closer to the couple, "How is…" he frowned, moving around to stand behind Abigail, disbelief written across his face as he glanced over to the Time Lady, who was finally smiling at the couple, her previous annoyed expression gone, "How do you keep going like that?" he wondered aloud, "You don't even have a respiratory bypass system…" he shook his head as they continued kissing, "Do you breathe out your ears. Hello?" he tried, lightly tapping Kazran's head, still not getting a reaction as he moved back around to Abigail, "Sorry, hello?" he tapped the blonde's head, still not getting a response from the pair, "Guys, she's phoned a _chapel_ , there's a car outside, this _is_ happening _now_!"

"Yoo hoo!" a rather high pitched voice called from across the lawn, and the Hatter looked around the Doctor to see Marilyn waving in the distance.

"Oh, looks like your _fiancé_ is ready, Doctor," the Time Lady remarked, throwing him a dark look as she crossed her arms across her chest. And to think she was missing out on dancing with Frank because the Doctor couldn't keep his charm to himself.

The Doctor gulped, throwing a quick look over his shoulder to Marilyn, "She is _not_ my fiancé," he insisted at once, turning back to the Hatter.

"Apparently, she is," she stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowed as she poked him hard in his chest, making him wince, "And you had better fix this because I will not attend my husband's wedding to another women _again_ , just as I have no intention of _ever_ kissing you again until you have fixed this. Understand?" she finished sweetly.

He nodded at once, throwing a quick look back to the kissing couple, "Right, fine," he adjusted his white blazer, reaching up to try and wipe away the lipstick mark still on his cheek, only making it worse, "We have to go now," he said, throwing another look over his shoulder to Marilyn, grabbing the Hatter's hand before she could blink, starting to quickly pull her along after him away from the pool area, "See you back at the TARDIS!" he called back to the couple.

"Stop talking and run, sweetheart!" the Hatter practically ordered him, throwing one last look back towards Marilyn before they disappeared around another hedge.

….

They returned back to the vault, having changed back into their proper clothing once more, and Kazran escorted Abigail back down the aisle to her container to say goodnight. The couple had been very quiet since returning to the TARDIS, not leaving each other's sides for a second, always seeming to be holding each other's hands, but the Hatter just put that done to have to wait another year to be together again.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said for the tenth time, practically pleading with his eyes to the Hatter to forgive him, holding both of her hands as they stood in front of each other, "I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't mean to get engage, it just…"

"Happened, I know," the Hatter finished, rolling her eyes at him, but she wasn't annoyed or angry anymore. In fact, now that it was all over, she could see the funny side of it, not that she was going to tell the Doctor that quite yet. It was quite amusing to see him so flustered.

"Can you forgive me?"

"Well, nothing actually happened, so I think so," she nodded, breaking into a smile, "However, I will expect to be severed a breakfast of my choice for the next month every morning".

"Anything you want," he agreed at once, relieved that she no longer seemed to want to kill him.

She raised her eyebrows teasingly, "Anything?"

He smiled, kissing her cheek, "For you, always".

"Hmm, you should be careful what you agree to when it comes to me, sweetheart," she wrapped her arms around his neck, still smiling at him, "You know, I don't blame Marilyn for wanting to be with you. You are quite a catch".

" _Your_ catch".

She laughed, unable to help herself as his smile turned smug, "Indeed".

The sound of the ice-box door closing sounded, drawing the Time Lords attention away from each other and over to see Kazran stepping away from Abigail's box, staring at it.

The Doctor wrapped his arm around the Hatter's waist, "There we go," he commented cheerfully as they walked towards Kazran, "Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh?" he clapped Kazran's back as they walked past him, "I mean, a year," he corrected himself with a wink to the brunet beside him.

They headed off down the aisle towards the TARDIS, already thinking of where to go next.

"Uh, Doctor!" Kazran called from behind them, "Hatter!" they stopped and turned back to him as he stepped closer to them, glancing briefly down at the ground, almost as if he was having trouble meeting their eyes, "Listen, why don't we leave it?" he said to them.

The Hatter frowned, confused, "Leave what, exactly?" she asked, glancing at the Doctor.

"Oh, you know," he replied, shrugging, " _This_. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting old".

"Old?" the Doctor repeated slowly, not understanding. This entire thing was so sudden, he had thought that Kazran enjoy their trips, getting to spend every Christmas Eve with Abigail.

"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it? I've got some work with my Dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control".

The Time Lords exchanged a look as they watched Kazran undo his bowtie around his neck, "Sorry…" the Doctor shook his head, blinking slightly, "We didn't realise we were boring you".

"Not your fault," he told them, shrugging them off again. Something in his tone made the Hatter frown deeply at him, sensing that there was far more going on then what he was allowing them to see, she just couldn't work out what, "Times change," he turned and began to walk off.

"Not as much as we had hoped they would," the Hatter murmured to the Doctor, watching Kazran go, feeling her hearts sinking with disappointment.

"Kazran!" the Doctor called after him, making him stop and turn back to face them. They walked towards him, the Doctor reaching inside his blazer pocket to pull out what was left of his sonic screwdriver, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway," he said to him, "What the hell…" he handed him the sonic, giving him a smile, "Merry Christmas".

"And if there's ever a time you need us, just activate it," the Time Lady added, trying to sound bright and cheerful, forcing a smile onto her face, "We'll hear it".

"I won't need you," he practically snapped, shaking his head at once.

She frowned at him deeply in concern, searching his face. That wasn't like the Kazran they had gotten to know, not once had he ever snapped or shown the slightest hint of aggression towards them, until now. What could have possibly have happened? "Kaz…you know that you can tell us anything," she reminded him gently, "What's happened?"

"I'm not a child, Hatter," he gave her a hard look, his tone growing cold, "I don't need silly nicknames".

She nodded slowly, "Very well, _Kazran_ ," she said softly, not offended by his tone, if anything she had only grown more concerned by his odd behaviour, "But I would very much like to know what it is that you are hiding from us?" she went on, her voice growing sharper.

Kazran shook his head and turned away, heading back up the aisle away from them once more.

"What about Abigail?" the Doctor asked loudly after him.

He paused and turned back to them, waving his hands around at the room, "I know where to find her," he turned back around, continuing off towards the door.

"This isn't right," the Hatter shook her head, watching Kazran leave without looking back, "Not right at all".

Slowly, the Time Lords turned and made their way back to the TARDIS, not ready to give up on Kazran yet.

….

Still with hope left that they might be able to help Kazran, they landed the TARDIS outside Kazran's bedroom window the next Christmas Eve. They stepped outside the time machine and moved to stand outside the closed, circular window, their hands interlocked as they watched the bedroom door fly open and Kazran walked into the room and over to his desk, pulling a drawer open. He looked different now with his hair slicked neatly back and dressed all in black. He reached into the drawer and pulled out the half of the sonic screwdriver, looking down at it for a moment when he whirled around to see the Time Lords standing outside. He walked across the room and over to the window, looking back to them with a blank expression on his face. The Doctor leaned down to smile at Kazran, while the Hatter gave him a hopeful wave, but Kazran simply closed the curtain on their faces.

The Hatter sighed heavily as she leaned back from the window, feeling disappointment wash over her, "Right, then," she glanced at the Doctor grimly, "Looks like we need to contact Amy".

….

With no other option left, the Time Lords returned to the TARDIS and jumped back to the future to contact Amy, explaining to her everything that they had done trying to change Kazran, telling her about his childhood, Abigail, the fish, and the singing, everything that they could possibly think of that might help Amy to appeal to older Kazran's nicer nature. Amy had to find a way to get through to him to help all those people on the ship before it was too late, since it seemed pretty clear that Kazran didn't want to listen to them anymore. While they finished explaining to Amy what she needed to do, the Hatter walked Rory through how to programme the ships projection system so that Amy could appear in Kazran's house, along with how to reverse the projection so Kazran could see what was happening on the ship. They linked the ships comm. system up to the TARIDS console so that they could listen and watch the entire thing on the monitor.

"Hello!" Amy called cheerfully as her projection appeared in older Kazran's sitting room.

Kazran jumped, his head snapping up in alarm from where he stood before his fireplace, old black and white photographs of all of those Christmas Eve's scattered on the rug at his feet, "Who are you?" he demanded, "What are you doing here?"

"Didn't think this was all over, did ya?" she raised her eyebrows at him, putting her hands on her hips, "I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present," she informed him dramatically.

"A ghost?" he repeated incredulously, casting his eyes over the short police uniform she was still wearing, scoffing, "Dressed like _that_?"

Rory suddenly appeared, still dressed as a Roman, and lightly pushed Amy aside, "Eyes off the skirt," he warned the older man, pointing sternly at him.

Amy rolled her eyes and pushed Rory back out of the projection beam, appearing once more before Kazran. Inside the TARIDS, the Time Lords exchanged an amused look as they continued watching the scene unfold.

"You turned into a Roman," Kazran remarked, frowning at Amy.

"Yeah," she smiled, nodding a little tensely as she glanced over to something that he couldn't see, "Yeah, I do that," she turned back to him, "I also do this…"

And her projection disappeared.

"Do what?" he questioned, looking around, startled and confused, "What are you talking about?"

He stood there, waiting and listening as silence fell over the room, when he caught the sound of singing somewhere in the distance. He frowned and began to follow the sound as it lead him out of the room and down the corridor, heading down to the ice-box vault, the singing growing louder as he moved to peer through the window in the door to see projections of people standing within the room, singing 'Silent Night'. He quickly entered the code and opened the door, stepping inside the chamber to look around at all the projections of men and women singing, even a few children among them, not seeming to know that he was looking at them.

Amy appeared behind him, "They're holograms," she explained to him, "Projections, like me".

He turned back to frown at her, "Who are they?"

"The people on the ship up there. The ones you're going to let die tonight".

He turned back to eye the projections of the passengers from the ship, still singing, "Why are they singing?" he asked.

"For their lives," she replied quietly, watching his reaction closely, but Kazran didn't seem the slightest bit affected by her answer. She looked around at the ice-boxes around the room, trying a different approach, "Which one's Abigail?" she questioned, and he looked at her sharply, surprise written across his face, "The Doctor and the Hatter told me," she added.

"Did they now?" he sneered, glaring at her.

"Well, they don't hold back. You know them".

"How do I? I never met them before tonight. Now I seem to have known them all my life. How? Why?"

"You're the only person who can let that ship land. They were trying to turn you into a nicer person. And they were trying to do it _nicely_ ".

"They've changed my past," he spat, glaring around at all the projections before him, "My _whole_ life!"

"Time can be rewritten".

"You tell the Doctor and the Hatter, tell them from me," he turned around to glare directly at Amy, "People can't!" he turned and stormed away from her through the projections, causing them to disappear until he came to a stop before Abigail's container, simply looking at her frozen face.

Amy disappeared and reappeared behind Kazran, glancing at Abigail's face through the window, "That's Abigail?" she asked.

"I would never have known her if _they_ hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves".

She frowned at him, confused, "Well, that's good, isn't it?"

"No," he said firmly, not looking away from the window.

"Why is she still in there?" she questioned, glancing at Abigail, "You could let her out any time".

"Oh, yes," he agreed, "Any time at all. Any time…I choose," he reached out and placed a hand on the window, almost as if he was touching Abigail's cheek.

"Then why don't you?"

He took a moment to answer, not taking his gaze off the window, " _This_ is what the Doctor and the Hatter did to me," he said quietly, "Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. On the point of death," he took a deep breathe, "I suppose the rest in the ice helped her, but she used up her time. All those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want…" he dropped his hand from the window and traced the counter dial on the door that now read 'one,' "And she would live a single day," he finally turned to look at Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?" he demanded, growing angry.

Amy blinked back tears, not knowing what she should say, "I'm sorry," she began quietly, "I really am. I'm very, very sorry. But you know what?" she went on hurriedly, taking a step closer to him, "She's got more time than I have. More than anyone on this ship".

"Good," he sneered.

Amy sighed heavily, glancing away to something that Kazran couldn't see, "Rory, widen the beam".

The room around Kazran flickered and he looked around, startled as he suddenly found himself standing on the flight deck of the ship with sparks flying around and alarms blearing loudly. The Captain dashed around at the controls as the pilot and her assistants scrambled around frantically, trying to stabilise the ship, while Amy stood beside Rory, who was still at the projection controls on the wall.

"Statue update on engine one…!" the Captain called to her crew, hitting buttons on the controls.

Kazran's eyes widened, staring around at the flight deck, "How did I get here?" he frowned.

"You didn't," Amy told him, drawing his attention back to her as she stepped closer to him, "It's your turn to be the hologram. Since you're going to let a lot of people die tonight, I thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen".

He frowned, looking around, hearing the singing again, "The singing…what is it?" he asked, listening to it, shaking his head, "I don't understand".

"The Hatter's idea," Rory said to him as on a screen at the front of the ship the passengers were shown again, singing, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals. That why the fish like it," the ship jolted roughly, forcing them all to grab a hold of something to keep themselves upright. He continued to look at Kazran, "She thought maybe it would stabilise the ship. But it _isn't_ working," he turned back to the control panel, "It's not powerful enough".

"Why are they still singing, then?"

"Because we haven't told them," the Captain answered, turning around from the controls as the ship jolted again. She moved closer to him, "Sir, I understand you have a machine that controls this cloud layer. If you could release us from it, we still have time to make a landing," she tried to get through to him, "No one has to die".

"Everybody has to die".

"Not tonight," Amy argued firmly.

He turned to look at her, still completely unaffected, "Tonight's as good as any other," he raised his eyebrows at her, "How do you choose?"

She shook her head at him, meeting his eyes as she raised the communicator device that the Hatter had built up to her mouth, "Doctor?" she called over the link, "Hatter?"

"Yeah?" the Doctor's voice came over.

"We're here," the Hatter came over a moment later.

"Are you hearing this?"

The Hatter sighed heavily, "Yes, and watching it all, too," she nodded, taking the Doctor's hand beside her as they watched the video feed.

"They're here?" Kazran hissed, looking around, his eyes widening, "Where are they?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, "Doctor, Hatter!" he suddenly disappeared from the ship and appeared again in the vault, "Doctor!" he shouted, his voice echoing around the room, "Hatter!" he looked around when his eyes landed on the Doctor and the Hatter standing a short distance away from him, holding hands. The TARDIS was behind him with the door opened slightly.

"We're so, so sorry," the Time Lady said softly, sadly looking over to Abigail's box, hanging her head, "We had no idea, if we had…" she trailed off, feeling guilt wash over her. They should have known, they should have asked more questions, perhaps they could have avoided this.

"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my _real_ life, the one you rewrote," he glanced at Abigail's box, "Now look at me".

"Better a broken heart then no heart at all," the Doctor remarked quietly.

"Oh, try it," he snapped suddenly, glaring angrily at them both, "You try it".

"We _have_ ," the Hatter said sharply, an edge entering her voice as Kazran blinked, surprised, "We have lost more people then you could imagine, our entire planet is _gone_. So do not tell us to try it, because we _live_ with it _every_. _Signal. Day_ of our lives".

He looked away from them, surprised by the Hatter's sudden shift in mood, "Why are you here?" he questioned them.

"Because we're not finished with you yet," the Doctor told him, walking closer to him with the Time Lady, "You've seen the past, the present…and now you need to see the future".

"Fine, do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid. Of course I will, we all do! What difference does _showing_ me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it," he stepped closer to them, glaring at them both, but they didn't even blink, "It's just that I _don't_ care. I'm not like you two. I don't even want to be like you two! I don't and never, ever will _care_!"

Silence fell over them.

The Hatter raised her eyebrows at him, leaning an inch closer to his face, "And we don't believe you for a second," she replied calmly.

"Then show me the future," he practically dared them, "Prove me wrong".

"We _are_ showing it to you," the Doctor informed him, and Kazran frowned, leaning back from them in confusion, "We're showing it to you right now," his gaze moved to look over Kazran's shoulder, over towards the TARIDS "So what do you think?" slowly, Kazran turned around to see his younger self standing behind him in his pyjamas and a robe, staring at him, "Is this who you want to become, Kazran?"

They both began to slowly walk towards each other, taking the other in, while the Time Lords stood back, watching on.

"Dad?" young Kazran breathed, staring at his future self with wide eyes.

Kazran suddenly threw down his cane and stormed over to his younger self, making the boy flitch back, trying to back away as the older man raised his hand, preparing to strike him. The Hatter struggled to remain where she was, gripping the Doctor's hand tighter, finding it almost physically painful to not intervene even though she knew no harm would come to the child.

Kazran hesitated, just as he had when he had gone to strike Abigail's Great-nephew, staring down at his younger selves face as he began crying, covering his face. After a moment, he uncovered his face and looked back down the frightened boy, "I'm sorry…" he mumbled, still half sobbing, "I'm so, so sorry…" he reached out to the boy, who backed away from him, terrified, "It's okay, don't be frightened," he gently placed his hands on the boy's shoulders, pulling him into a hug as the boy started crying, hugging him back tightly, "I'm…I'm so, so, so…"

They both sobbed into each other's arms as the Doctor and the Hatter walked closer to them, "Kazran…" the Doctor said, making the older man slowly look back up to him, "We don't have much time".

….

They all made their way back up to the main house and into the living room, older Kazran dashing over to the cloud belt machine to quickly set to work fiddling with the controls, his younger self watching him, while the Time Lords quickly tried connecting to the space ship on a small computer screen across the room, waiting as the screen flickered for a moment before the flight deck appeared on the screen with Amy, Rory, and the rest of the flight crew.

"Hello, hello?" the Doctor called brightly over the link, "Ah, hello, everyone," he said as the video came into focus, "Prepare to lock on to our signal".

Amy smiled, looking surprised to see them, "Doctor, Hatter, what's happening?" she asked.

"I do believe we just saved Christmas, boys and girls!" the Hatter grinned broadly, unable to resist.

He pointed sternly at the screen, "Don't go away!" he added, and ended the connection. He and the Time Lady spun around and made their way over to Kazran as he continued working frantically on the controls of the machine, "We good to go, then?" he looked to older Kazran.

"The controls won't respond," Kazran replied, shaking his head as he twisted dials, causing the lights to flash and beeps to sound, refusing to follow his commands.

"Here, let me take a look," the Hatter moved forward, quickly examining the controls, trying to work out what was going on as the Doctor tried to help, too, "It doesn't make sense," she frowned, not finding any obvious reason for why the controls would suddenly decide to no longer work, "This machine are isomorphic, tuned into your brainwaves so that they can _only_ respond to _you_ …"

"They won't".

"Well, that doesn't make sense," the Doctor agreed, "That's ridiculous…" he moved around Kazran to try pressing the controls himself, frantically trying to get them to work. They were running out of time, "Why won't…"

The Hatter froze, her head snapping around to stare at Kazran, "Oh!" she gasped in realisation, making everyone look at her, "Oh, I am such an idiot!" she shook her head, turning to the Doctor, "How could we have possibly not thought of that?"

"What…" he trailed off, catching on as his eyes widened, "Oh…oh, of course," he breathed, closing his eyes and hanging his head, "Stupid, stupid…"

"What's wrong?" older Kazran looked quickly between them both, frowning, "Tell me, what is it? What?"

"It's you," he turned to Kazran, sighing heavily, "We've changed you too much, the machine doesn't recognise you".

"But, no, my Father programmed it…" he began, confused.

"I'm sorry," the Hatter interrupted him, shaking her head with a resigned expression, "Your Father, he would never have programmed it for the man that you are today," she sighed heavily, reaching up to rub her forehead as the Doctor walked away, running a hand down his face, "We've changed you too much".

He looked between them quickly, "Then what do we do?"

"Um…" the Doctor stopped, turning back around to face them, looking at the Hatter, both desperately trying to think, "Um…I don't know, I don't know".

"Perhaps, with time, I could find a way to hack into the controls," the Time Lady said thoughtfully, casting a quick glance back to the machine, not completely confidant that she would even be able to do that in the first place. There was only so much she could actually do with isomorphic controls and even if she could hack into the controls, it would probably take hours to even come close. She sighed, looking back to the younger and older Kazran, "But I don't think that's even an option for us right now".

"There must be something!" young Kazran tried, gesturing back to the controls, looking at the Time Lords hopefully.

"Well…" older Kazran's eyes light up, quickly reaching inside his pocket, struck with an idea, "This!" he pulled out of the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, holding it up for them to see, "You can use this! I kept it, see…?"

"What?" the Doctor lowered his hands from his face, half turning back towards them, "Half my screwdriver?" he began to walk away from them again, when he paused, an idea popping into his head as lighten flashed outside. He slowly turned back around to face them, meeting the Hatter's eyes, "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the _heart_ of the cloud layer…"

"Oh…" the Hatter breathed, pointing at him, her eyes lighting up as she caught onto his train of thought, "Oh, that is very clever!" she broke into an excited grin, spinning back around to face Kazran, grabbing the screwdriver out of his hand, talking quickly, "If we were to use the aerial to then boost the signal, we could set up a resonation pattern between the two halves of the sonic…this is might just work, sweetheart!" she cheered, almost jumping up and down in her excitement.

"Yes!" he returned the grin, hurrying to stand beside her at the controls, "My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet," he pointed back and forth between the two Kazran's, "Coolest _two_ bits. It _could_ do it!" he and the Time Lady turned back to the controls, looking over them.

Older Kazran frowned, looking between the Time Lords, "Do what?" he asked, confused.

"My screwdriver is still trying to repair," he explained quickly to them, nodding to the piece of screwdriver in the Hatter's hand, "It's signalling _itself_. We use the signal, but we send something else".

"Send what?" young Kazran questioned.

The Time Lords hesitated, exchanging a grim look as their excitement faded.

"Well?" older Kazran frowned at them when they didn't reply, "What? _What_?"

The Hatter, resigned, turned to face the man and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, "We are so very, truly sorry," she said gently, feeling her hearts break for him.

He looked between them, shaking his head, "I don't understand".

"You see, we need to transmit something into the cloud belt," she told him softly, looking at him sadly as the Doctor put a reassuring hand on her lower back, "We already know something that works, and I'm afraid that we simply don't have enough time left to try and find another way".

The Doctor gave him a deeply apologetic look, "We need her to sing".

The two Kazran's looked at each other, the older of the two paling.

…

They made their way downstairs and into the vault, making their way down the aisle to stand outside Abigail's box as Kazran, with shaky hands, started the warming process.

"Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals," the Doctor remarked as he, the Hatter, and young Kazran stood back, watching grimly, "It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too".

"Could you do it?" Kazran asked, watching the warming process, "Could you do this? Think about it, Doctor," he looked over to them, his eyes coming to rest on the Hatter, "One last day with your beloved," he looked back to the Doctor, who closed his eyes tightly, gripping the Time Lady's hand tighter, "Which day would you choose?"

The Hatter swallowed thickly, hanging her head. It was an impossible decision to have to make, to spend the day with the person you loved, even though you knew it would be their last. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she would have the strength to do what Kazran was doing, but she knew that in the end, she would go through with it because she knew that would be what the Doctor would want, to save all those people even if he died at the end of the day. It was the same thing that she would want him to do if the roles were reversed.

The door of the box hissed and swung open, "Christmas," Abigail said softly, stepping out before they could answer, looking at Kazran's face, "Christmas Day," he gasped, turning to see her as she smiled at him softly, "Look at you…" she reached up to place her hand on his cheek, her eyes roaming over his now wrinkled face, "You're so old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry…" he whispered, shaking his head as tears filled his eyes.

She simply smiled at him, "Hoarding my days, like an older miser".

He laughed slightly, "But…if you leave the ice now…"

"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day".

The Doctor wrapped his arm around young Kazran's shoulders, pulling him closer to his side as he wrapped his other arm around the Hatter's waist, kissing her cheek gently as she smiled at him sadly.

….

Outside, on the street beneath the lamppost, Abigail stood singing into what was left of the sonic screwdriver that the Time Lords had connected to wires that lead back into the manor house and up to the spire, turning the sonic into a microphone. The Doctor fiddled with the wires, adjusting them as the Hatter stood back with young Kazran, one hand resting on his shoulder, while they watched the older Kazran watch Abigail.

"Well?" Kazran glanced at the Time Lords, trying to work out exactly what they were doing.

"The singing resonates in the ice crystals," the Hatter explained to them, stepping closer, "It then is being feedback between the two halves of the sonic screwdriver, filling the sky with one song".

"The crystals will align," the Doctor continued quickly, still fiddling with the wires, "We'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock".

"What does that mean, 'unlock?'" young Kazran asked curiously, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"

The Hatter grinned broadly, ruffling his hair playfully, "Something that hasn't happened in a very long time and is truly wonderful," she replied.

"When you're alone, silence is all you see…" Abigail sang as they all looked up at the sky as snow began to fall around them, smiling and laughing together in delight as they watched the snow fall around them, "When you're alone, silence is all you'll be…give me your hand and come to me!"

The snow drifted around them, landing on their clothing and in their hair as the Doctor took the Hatter's hand, kissing her hand before twirling her around gently and back into his arms, making her laugh, while around them people began to make their way out into the streets, looking around in wonder at the snow and the children began to play in it. Kazran stepped closer to Abigail and took her hand, looking at each other gently as the singing continued.

The Hatter smiled softly at the couple before wrapping her arm around young Kazran's shoulders as she and the Doctor turned, starting to make their way over to the TARDIS, watching as a group of giggling children ran passed them. They paused as they reached the TARDIS, the Doctor unlocking the door and pausing to look back see all the people who had now gathered in the street, laughing and cheering as they watched the snow fall around them, and over to where Abigail and Kazran stood together, looking up at the sound of the familiar beeping sound coming from the clouds above them as a shadow of a shark appeared.

"Hello, my old friend!" Kazran called up to the shark, smiling at it.

The Doctor looked back to the boy, exchanging a small smile with the Time Lady as he reached over to ruffle the boy's hair, "Come on," he said, lightly ushering him through the TARDIS doors, "Let's go".

The Time Lady moved to follow the boy inside, but paused, glancing back to the couple to smile broadly at them, before looking back up to the Doctor. He smiled at her and entered the TARDIS together, closing the door softly behind them as they dematerialised, leaving the carriage and the harness behind as one last Christmas present to the pair.

….

Later on in the evening, once the Doctor and the Hatter had taken young Kazran back home, they returned to the future and decided to spend their time while waiting for Amy and Rory to find them building a snowman…or half a dozen. Once they made the first one, it was simply too much fun for them to stop.

The Hatter laughed as she finished putting the finishing touches onto their most recent snowman, watching as the Doctor leaned down and rubbed his nose with the end of the carrot nose that they had stuck to the face of the snowman, "You really are a sweetheart," she commented fondly.

"You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person," Amy's voice drifted over to them suddenly, catching the Time Lady's attention as she looked over her shoulder to see their companions walking towards them, looking both quite chilly in their customs, "The snowman isn't bad, either," she added cheekily.

The Doctor glanced up, too, "Ah, yes, you two," he smiled at them, "About time".

"I have to ask, but why are you dressed like that?" the Time Lady asked, eyeing their rather odd choice of clothing with confusion and amusement. Even she could tell that they were dressed strangely.

"Ah, um…" Rory cleared his throat, blushing faintly as both Time Lords looked at them, even Amy was raising her eyebrows at him, "Kind of lost out luggage," he said after a moment, shifting under their gaze, "Kind of crash landed".

"Yes, we _know_ ," she nodded, rolling her eyes slightly, "We were involved in ensuring that you survived, but that still doesn't explain _why_ you were wearing those clothes in the first place?"

"Ah, yeah, they really love their snowmen around here," Amy cut in quickly, changing the subject as she glanced at the snowman that the Time Lords had just finished building, "I've counted about twenty".

"Yeah, we've been busy," the Doctor grinned, wrapping an arm around the Hatter's waist, exchanging a look.

She smiled at them both, "Yeah," she agreed, "Yeah, you have," she wrapped her arms around them both, hugging them tightly, "Thank you".

"It was our pleasure," the Hatter said brightly, pulling back and moving to hug Rory, who blinked slightly in surprise before happily returning the gesture.

"Right!" the Doctor clapped his hands as the brunet moved back to his side, taking his hand, "Come on, then! Let's go," he and the Time Lady turned, heading back over to the TARDIS with Amy and Rory following behind them, rubbing their arms from the cold.

"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" Rory said from behind them, only half joking after how their last idea had gone down so well with them all almost dying.

"There's a moon that's made of actual honey," the Doctor informed them cheerfully, before pausing, "Well, not actual _honey_ …and it's not _actually_ a moon…and _technically_ it's alive…"

"And it's also a bit carnivorous…" the Hatter added, flashing the couple behind her a broad smile, "But it does have some beautiful views, which makes it well worth it".

They reached the TARDIS and the Doctor unlocked the door, pushing it open, "Yeah, great," Rory said sarcastically, rolling his eyes slightly at their idea of a good honeymoon destination. He dreaded to imagine what their honeymoon must have been like, "Thanks," he slipped through the doors, disappearing inside.

Amy moved to follow him before pausing, glancing back to the Time Lords faces, noticing how they were both looking almost sad, but trying hard to hide it, "Are you okay?" she asked them, concerned.

"Course we're okay," the Doctor waved her off, looking back to her, "You?"

"Of course," she nodded, her expression growing sad, remembering Kazran and Abigail, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"

The Hatter sighed heavily, exchanging a look with the Doctor, "Yes, it will be," she agreed softly, before forcing herself to brighten slightly, turning to look back to Amy, "But all things end and time moves on. If it didn't, nothing would ever get started to begin with and life wouldn't exist, regardless of how painful it might be".

The TARDIS door suddenly opened and Rory's head poked out, "Ah, your phone was ringing," he said to the Time Lords, "Someone called Marilyn," the Doctor paled, a look of horror crossing his face as the Hatter shook her head. She was persistent, she would give her that. Rory glanced at Amy with his eyebrows raised, "Actually sounds like _the_ Marilyn".

Amy eyed the Doctor curiously, crossing her arms across her chest, "Doctor?"

"Remember what I said about kissing, sweetheart?" the Time Lady reminded him sweetly, rather enjoying herself.

The Doctor's eyes widened, looking back to Rory so fast that his neck actually cracked, "Tell her she's got the wrong number," he said hurriedly, reaching up to rub his neck with a grimace.

Rory looked between the Time Lords, seeming to think better of asking as he headed back inside the time machine.

Amy shook her head, turning back to the Time Lords, "Where are they?" she asked them, "Kazran and Abigail."

"Off on a little trip, I should think".

"Where?"

The Hatter smiled slightly, her eyes drifting up to look at the night sky, "Christmas, of course".

"Christmas?" she repeated.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, smiling at the Time Lady, "Christmas".

Amy laughed at them both, enjoying seeing the childlike glee on their faces as she pushed the TARDIS door open, stepping inside to change into something a little warmer, leaving them behind to look back up at the sky.

"Halfway out of the dark," he remarked, grinning broadly up at the sky, before placing a kiss on the Hatter's cheek. He pushed the door open and let her inside first, following close behind her.

…

The Time Lords took Amy and Rory off to their next honeymoon destination on the carnivorous moon where they had said goodbye to them, assuring them once again that if they should need them to come back and pick them up due to almost getting eaten, as Rory was fearing that they might, that they would be there before they could blink and would take them somewhere a little less hungry. The Doctor set them off into the Time Vortex as the Hatter flopped down onto one of the jump seats, kicking her shoes off and shrugging her jacket off, draping it over the railing behind her seat, debating with herself if she could be bothered to make herself a cup of tea, before deciding that she could wait a little while.

"I have something for you," the Doctor's voice caught her attention, making her look up to find him making his way around the side of the console to stand before her, his hands behind his back and a grin of his face.

"Oh?" she raised her eyebrows curiously, trying to peer around his back to see what he was hiding, but he simply smiled wider at her.

He stepped closer to her, finally moving his arms from around his back to reveal a rather large present that he appeared to have tried to wrap in a hurry with bright red and green paper with little yellow stars covering it, "Merry Christmas, dear!" he said proudly.

She couldn't help breaking into a soft smile, quite surprised that he had actually gotten her a Christmas present, let along gone to the bother of wrapping it up, even if it was a little shabbily done, "And when did you manage to do this without me seeing?" she asked teasingly, rising from her chair to take the gift, turning it over in her hands. A book, perhaps?

"When you were trying to sooth Rory that he wasn't going to be eaten the moment they stepped outside," he replied, shrugging as a faint blush covered his cheeks, "It's nothing fancy," he mumbled, suddenly embarrassed.

She placed a hand on his cheek, "Well, I've never been overly fancy myself, regardless of my upbringing. You know that I love nothing more than the simpler things in life," she dropped her hand from his cheek and curiously, began to unwrap the paper, letting it fall onto the floor without a care, far too eager to know just what he had given her to care about being tidy. She had been right, it was a book, a rather large and well-loved looking sketch pad with circular Gallifreyan written along the bottom front page. Her eyes widened as she realised just what it was and her eyes snapped back up to meet the Doctor's, "You're sketchpad," she breathed, stunned that he still had it after all those centuries.

The Doctor nodded, smiling, "The original," he confirmed, watching as she carefully began to flip through the pages, pausing to admire the pencil drawings that he had filled the pages with as a child, many of which featuring a sketch or two of her, even a few of the Rani that practically seemed to glare back at them and the Master.

"You really did capture his arrogant smirk perfectly," she commented, pausing briefly to look at a sketch of a young Master, appearing to have been drawn without the subject's knowledge.

"Well, when wasn't he smirking?"

"Good point," she couldn't help laughing, nodding in agreement. After a moment, she closed the book and looked back him, "You're giving this to me?"

He smiled gently at her, "Who better then you?" he said softly, "You're the only one, aside from my Mother who ever encouraged me to draw. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why that books so full is due to you".

The Hatter was actually rendered speechless at that, staring at him with wide eyes, never having thought for a moment that her simple encouragement during their childhood would have meant so much to him throughout his adulthood, too. She took a moment to try and gather herself as he watched her, an amused glint entering his eyes.

"Well, then," she eventually said firmly, "We are going to have to find a spot on the shelves in our room for this to be on proper display. Now, I have a present for you, too," she took his hand and lead him back over to the jump seats, making him sit down before sitting beside him, carefully leaning the sketch book against the side of her chair beside her.

"Ooh, I've got a present, too?" he asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up in delight, very curious to find out just what it was. A clever gadget she had made for him? She had already rebuilt his sonic screwdriver to be just like his old one, he had thought that was his gift.

She couldn't help smiling fondly at him, "I hadn't intended to give it to you yet, I was waiting for…well, I suppose for the right time, but this seems as good as any other. Close your eyes," she instructed him, before pointing sternly, "And no peeking," he nodded, quickly closing his eyes tightly. He heard the sound of fabric rustling, waiting as he felt her press something that felt like a photograph into his hand…, "Okay, you can look".

He opened his eyes to find her watching him with an almost nervous and excited expression on her face. His eyes drifted down to the thing in his hand and he turned it over to find…his eyes widened in shock, his mouth growing dry, "Is that…" he began shakily, his voice slightly higher pitched then usual as he looked back up to meet her eyes, "Are…is…"

Calmly, she reached out and put a hand on his cheek, meeting his eyes steadily, "Yes," she broke into a wide smile, speaking barely above a whisper, "I'm pregnant, sweetheart".

 _ **Did anyone see that coming? I have been saying for a while now that something was going to happen in season six that was going to change the Hatter. And I understand completely if people are upset with this development, not everyone is going to like the idea and I understand completely if you no longer wish to continue reading, I just hope that you might give it a try. This is, in no way, going to domesticate our Time Lords. Obviously, it will change things a little, but it won't change their adventures. I've already thought of how I'm going to incorporate a child into the story (if something doesn't happen to the child, that is…), so rest assured, this wasn't something I just threw into the story for fun. I've been thinking about this for a very long time now, but I guess as readers, you'll just have to wait and see if you continue to like the stories with this new development.**_

 _ **I apologise for not updating last week, I was busy with school work, so hopefully I can back on track since we only have one last chapter to go before we're on to season six. Next chapter, Sarah Jane and Jo Grant, need I say more? Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **If the Doctor hadn't returned the Hatter's feelings, marrying River instead and the Hatter had been in love with him, she wouldn't have been able to continue travelling with him. She would have felt wrong travelling with him when she had feelings for him and he was married. She would probably have gone back to work with Unit, or began travelling again by herself, like in the old days. She just wouldn't have felt comfortable being around the Doctor, being in love with him while he was already a married man, even if she would have never have done something to sabotage the Doctor and River's marriage. And yes, she would have grown jealous, the only reason she doesn't get jealous with him when other women flirt with him now is because she knows how he feels about her and that no one else could come between that. I hope that answered your question, and thank you for the review :)**_


	29. Chapter 29 Death of the Time Lords

_**Death of the Time Lords**_

Pregnant, funny how one word could change a person's entire life, just like 'I love you,' both were life altering, and both could take a while to sink in. The Doctor was still trying to comprehend that the Hatter, his Hatter was actually carrying his child. They were have a _baby_ , an actualcrying, tiny, completely helpless little thing that they would have to raise and parent for the next two hundred years, and that was only counting the teen and childhood years. It was funny, he had always dreamed about having a child with the Hatter, always wondered what he or she would be like, but it wasn't just a dream anymore, it was reality and with that knowledge brought with it not just complete and utter delight, but also terror.

He had been a father before, had raised two children and loved them both dearly, and he had also lost them and grieved for them. He had thought at the time that he would never be capable of being a father again, but then Jenny had come along and the Hatter, well, she had taken to that beautiful girl instantly, without hesitating for a moment because that was the person she was, but he had been different. He had tried so hard to deny that Jenny was his daughter, but in the end, just like with her mother, he had fallen in love with her and had begun to imagine what it would be like for their daughter to travel with them. And then, they had lost her and had been completely devastated.

He wasn't sure if he was really meant to be a father after everything, he had always been better at saving the Universe then parenting, or at least that's how it felt. And then there was the chance that he could lose them both, the Hatter and their child. Time Lady's pregnancies were well known for having been quite dangerous for both the child and mother, it was one of the reasons why Looms were so popular. They were far safer and practically assured that the child would be completely healthy. But a natural pregnancy brought with it so many risks, and the one thing he knew he would never be able to come back from would be losing the Hatter again.

He took a deep breath and glanced over to the sleeping Time Lady beside him, looking peaceful with her hair in a complete mess of waves sprawled across her pillow, her face peaceful and completely relaxed with her mouth open just slightly, releasing small breathes. At some point during the night she had kicked the covers off her pyjama clad legs, revealing the bright yellow socks she wore.

"You know," the Hatter's voice interrupted his thoughts, sounding slurred and rough from sleep, her eyes still closed. In fact, he would have been positive she was fast asleep if he hadn't heard her speak, "It really is quite disturbing to have someone watch you sleep," she cracked one eye open, not moving her head in the slightest to look up at him, "Also, I can practically hear you thinking from here".

"How can you know I was watching you if you were asleep?" he asked, raising an amused eyebrow at her.

"Don't question it, just believe it, sweetheart," she mumbled sleepily, closing her eyes again.

Well, at least he could understand what was saying this morning. Most mornings he couldn't get a coherent word out of her before she had her tea. He smiled softly and shifted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her middle and pulling her back to his chest, unable to resist lightly resting his open palm against her flat stomach, amazed that their child was growing inside their, hardly bigger than his thumbnail right now. It would be months before she would even start to show, Time Lord pregnancies lasting for eighteen months rather than nine, like humans, so they were more drawn out then a humans, and right now the Hatter was only a little over two months. Still, it also meant that she was in one of the most high risk stages…he closed his eyes, trying to force those thoughts from his mind.

The Hatter sighed softly and rolled onto her side in his arms to face him, finally opening her eyes to look at him properly, though, she still looked half-asleep, "Are you okay?" she frowned worriedly at him, noticing how he had tensed suddenly.

He tried to give her a smile, even though he knew that she would see straight through it, "I'm fine…."

"Don't you dare try lying to me when I'm carrying your child," she cut across him at once, fixing him with a deadly serious look that just simply shouldn't be possible when she had woken up less than two minutes ago.

He opened and closed his mouth at her, really not having expected that response, "Ah…"

She continued to look at him seriously before breaking into a smile, kissing him quickly with a laugh, "Oh, I am so going to enjoy saying that for the next eighteen months!" she grinned, her eyes dancing with delight, sitting up so suddenly that she almost whack her head against the Doctor's chin, "I mean, it's almost worth having to handle all the backaches, swollen ankles, and every other awful pregnancy symptom there is just to be able to say that," she laughed again, lightly ruffling his hair, "And there's nothing you can say as a comeback, either!"

"This is just going to get worse, isn't it?" he pretended to sigh in exasperation, really quite amused now that he was over his surprise. It was just such a typical thing for her to say and for a brief moment, he forgot about his worries, simply enjoying seeing how happy she was.

"You have no idea. Now, you never did answer my question: are you alright?"

The Doctor sighed heavily, sitting up against the headboard, but he tried to avoid her gaze as he did so. How could he tell how afraid he was when she was so happy?

She reached over and cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb along his cheek bone, "I know you're worried," she told him softly, making him blink in surprise at her. She smiled slightly, "How could you not be worried. To be honest, I'm _terrified_ ," she admitted, her smile fading to be replaced with a small frown, "Anything could happen, _anything_. This whole thing is just as new for me as it is for you. I've never been pregnant before, I've never had to carry one of my children's lives literally inside me before and the idea of something happening to it…" she paused, swallowing hard as she looked down at the red covers, absently toying with the edge of the blanket, "I…I don't think I could bear to lose another child".

"Hey," he put a finger under her chin, lifting her head to meet her eyes, seeing just how afraid she really was. He should have known the moment she started making light of her pregnancy that she was afraid, "I won't let anything happen to either of you".

"You can't make that promise, sweetheart, not with something like this".

"No…" he nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off hers, "But I can promise to be there, no matter what happens, and do everything I can in the Universe to insure that you are both okay".

She took a deep breath, smiling at him, "And we'll do it all together, just as we always have".

"Always," he agreed, and kissed her.

…

After breakfast and the Time Lords had gotten changed, they had decided to go and check the scanners in the console, when they discovered that they had drifted towards a planet called 'The Westland of the Crimson Heart,' apparently a once very big and mighty battlefield that neither the Doctor nor the Hatter had ever even heard of before.

Curious, they decided to take a little trip down to the planet to explore the arid, reddish surface that was littered with bits of old fighter ships, cables and wires having been left scattered across the old battlefield as they explored it. Despite it once having been a place for war, the planet really was quite pretty with the reddish sky above from the two moons casting a funny red, almost coppery glow over everything and the rocky ground that surrounded the Time Lords with cliffs. There was no plant life that the Hatter could see, just plenty of debris from destroyed ships.

They explored for a while, enjoying trying to determine what piece of debris might have belonged to what model of ship, but their enjoyment soon faded as they soon became aware that there was blue lights moving around the TARDIS. They immediately recognised the lights as belonging to a teleport device, but they had no way of being able to stop it, the Doctor having left his sonic screwdriver in the TARDIS, not having thought that they would need it for a bit of fun exploring. All they could do was watch helpless, when another presence caught their attention.

A large vulture-like creature had appeared a short distance away from the TARIDS, draped in a dark blue velvet robe and with a ruffle of white feathers around its long neck. They recognised it at once as being a Shansheeth, a species that acted as intergalactic undertakers, of sorts, usually known for returning dead war heroes home from battlefields across the Universe, but why would it be on a planet that hadn't seen bloodshed in at least a decade? It simply didn't make sense…until it had informed them that it was taking command of the TARIDS, saying something about it being for the greater good of the Universe and that it intended to use their old friends from Earth to gain access to the time machine, and that within a few days the death notice would be fulfilled.

And with that last chilling note, the Shansheeth and the TARDIS both disappeared in a flash of blue, leaving the Time Lords trapped on a planet a very, very long way from Earth.

The Hatter took a deep breath, still staring at the place that the TARDIS had just been standing only moments ago, feeling her hearts sinking, "This doesn't make sense," she said after a moment, frowning, "What use would the Shansheeth have for time travel?"

"I don't know," the Doctor sighed heavily, running a frustrated hand down his face as he began pacing, desperately trying to think, "And what friends could help to get inside the TARDIS? And how?"

"They certainly wouldn't just give the key up," she agreed thoughtfully, watching him pace, finding it strangely helpful to watch him with her own thoughts, "Most of them still have their keys, but none of them would just hand it over, unless…" she stopped suddenly, a thought crossing her mind.

He paused in his pacing, looking over to her quickly, "What?"

"I just had a rather unsettling thought. The Shansheeth said that the death notice would be fulfilled in a few days, which means that there's already a death notice for us, so…"

"Oh!" he gasped, his eyes widening as he pointed at her, catching on, "That's how they're going to do it. Make our friends think we're dead, gather them together at our funeral, and…"

She sighed, her shoulders slumping, "Yes, but even if they thought we were dead they still wouldn't just hand over the TARDIS key," she shook her head grimly, "They're going to need to pull the key from their memories to get it by using a memory weave, or something similar".

The Doctor began pacing again, this time slightly less erratic then before, feeling better now that they seemed to be getter somewhere, "The Shansheeth will probably go to UNIT to organise the funeral," he remarked, thinking deeply and carefully, trying to imagine what he would do if he was in their position, "UNIT can contact most of our friends, get them to come, but they would need help from the inside to do it, too. Someone who can convince people that we really are dead".

"Yes, but they'll want to act quickly," she nodded, moving to sit on a nearby rock that was sticking up from the ground, stretching her legs out before her and crossing her ankles, "They won't want people to start poking around and with our friends, even if they are convinced that we're dead, you just know that they will".

"It's a good plan," he admitted, pausing and moving to sit beside her on the rock, taking her hand, "A very good plan".

"It's clever, I'll give them that, but not nearly clever enough to convince _all_ of our friends. A few of them will have to be suspicious about the whole thing".

They were silent for a long moment before slowly turning to meet each other's eyes…"Sarah Jane!" they cried in unison, breaking into grins, high fiving each other in their excitement.

"She would be one of the easiest companions to contact," the Time Lady continued brightly, her eyes lighting up in delight, thinking it over quickly. They would only be able to contact three of her companions, Michael, Katie, and Tommy, while the others would be unreachable due to time differences. Lily would have only just have started travelling with her Fifth regeneration and Max and Alice, while it pained her greatly to even have to think about it, would no longer be alive by 2010. Sarah Jane seemed like the most likely person that UNIT would try and call, and she would also be a good target for the Shansheeth if they tried getting the TARDIS key from her memories, but even Sarah's memories wouldn't be powerful enough on their own, they would still need another companion, but who?

"And the most suspicious," the Doctor added, smiling broadly at the thought of his old companion. She was a journalist, after all, it was her job to question everything and if she felt for one second that something was off, she would follow that feeling until she got to the truth. Out of any of their companions that would be able to see that the Shansheeth were lying, it would be her. He just knew it.

The Hatter stood, letting go of his hand and spun back around to face him, still grinning as she began rubbing her hands together, "Looks like we have our work cut out for us this time, sweetheart," she commented cheerfully, already thinking of how they could use the junk around them to build a device to get back to Earth.

….

Carefully, Sarah Jane opened the door of the room that she and Clyde and Rani had been given to stay in while they attended the Doctor and the Hatter's funeral, peering around the metal door and into the empty corridor outside, "Rani?" she called quietly, the two teenagers and another boy, Santiago, Jo Jones's grandson, having disappeared a while ago, "Clyde?"

Jo Jones's stepped out into the hallway from behind her, looking around with a frown. She was still feeling quite confused after finding that she had managed to fall asleep while still sitting upright with Sarah Jane when they had been trying to work out just who would benefit from making it look like the Doctor and the Hatter had died, neither of them having been convinced that they were really gone. She had been thrilled to hear that the Time Lords had married, finally, though she had been disappointed that she hadn't been invited to attend the wedding, but she expected that they must have had a good reason. She knew the Hatter, or at least she did back in the old days, and knew that the Time Lady wouldn't have just forgotten about her, not if they had invited Liz Shaw and old John Benton from those days. She just hoped that she would get the chance to see them again.

"Where is everyone?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder, looking around worriedly for any sign of someone. There wasn't even a UNIT soldier in sight.

Sarah Jane continued to frown deeply, "I think there's something wrong".

"Wrong?" she repeated, turning back to the other women, "As in, you mean, just like the old days sort of wrong?"

She turned back to Jo, smiling broadly at her, growing excited, "Oh, exactly like the old days!" she agreed.

"Groovy!"

"Yes!"

They grabbed each other's hands and began running off down the corridor, almost running into Clyde, Rani, and Santiago as they reached a junction in the hallway up ahead.

"There you are!" Sarah Jane cried, pleased to have finally found the three teenagers.

Clyde doubled back a bit, having almost run straight past the older women, "Sarah Jane, it's the Shansheeth," he began hurriedly, "They're lying through their beaks. They want you and Jo," he nodded over to Jo, "This whole thing's a trap".

"I _knew_ it!" Sarah Jane exclaimed at once.

"Hold on," Jo's eyes widened in realisation, pointing at Clyde, "If they're lying, that means the Doctor and Hatter's still an alive," she and Sarah Jane turned to each other, high fiving.

"Yes!" they shouted in unison.

"Of course we're still alive, Jo," Clyde said, but it wasn't his voice speaking, sounding like a completely different man, "I thought that was obvious. Catch up".

They all looked at Clyde, frowning in confusion.

"What, I beg your pardon?" Jo asked, frowning at him.

"Clyde, is that you?" Sarah Jane questioned, eyeing Clyde carefully.

"Course it's not, it's _me_!" the same voice replied again from Clyde, sounding exasperated, "I'm using Clyde as a receiver. We've keyed into his residual artron energy so I can organise a very complicated biological swap across ten thousand light years. Hold on…"

Suddenly, Clyde was jolted with a painful burst of bright blue energy that crackled all over his body, making him cry out before the energy disappeared, almost causing him to stumble forwards.

"That wasn't me," Clyde said, looking up, alarmed to see them all still staring at him, "That wasn't _me_ speaking. I'm getting…" he paused, his eyes widening as he held up one of his hands to see that it was white and slightly bigger than his own hands. He stared at the hand, shocked, "That's not my hand, because my hand's not white…"

He was shocked again by the energy and suddenly, a floppy-haired man in a tweed blazer and wearing a blue bowtie appeared in his place, the energy to crackling around him as he scrunched up his face, "Sorry, Clyde," the man apologised.

Clyde appeared again, still groaning in pain.

And then the man was back, "But…"

Clyde.

"This…" the man again.

"No…" Clyde groaned painfully, disappearing again and replaced by the man.

"Space…"

Clyde.

"Is…"

Clyde.

"Taken!" the man shouted, stumbling back slightly as the energy disappeared completely, Clyde nowhere in sight. He blinked slightly, his floppy brown hair looking quite wind swept after all the switching back and forth between Clyde and himself, "Good…" he said, still appearing a bit dazed, "So…gosh!" he exclaimed, "That was different," he broke into a smile as he caught sight of the others staring at him, stunned, "Hello, everyone".

"Who are you?" Rani demanded, her eyes wide as she stared at the man. The man simply frowned at her slightly, almost as if he was disappointed, "Where's Clyde?" she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Come on, Rani, use your brain," he shook his head at her, "Clyde and I swapped places. I'm where he was, he's where the Hatter and I was, which means…ooh," he paused, blinking slightly, "He's in a lot of trouble," he gave himself a shake, breaking into another broad smile, "But not to worry, he's got the Hatter there. He'll be fine".

…. _ **Meanwhile**_ ….…

Clyde's eyes widened as he stumbled back, suddenly finding himself standing on a strange, reddish planet with rocks and dirt everywhere, certainly not on Earth with Sarah Jane and Rani anymore.

"Everything is just fine, Clyde," a women's voice caught his attention, and he spun around to find a brown haired, hat wearing women standing only a few steps from him, her back facing a strange looking device that was humming faintly. She smiled at him soothingly, "You'll be back home in just a tick, the Doctor just has to do something first".

He eyed her carefully for a moment, "Hatter?" he asked slowly, unsure, feeling very confused as to what was going on. Who else wore a hat and hung around with the Doctor?

Her smile broadened, "That's right," she nodded happily, throwing her arms around him a quick hug before he had a chance to even blink, startling him slightly. She pulled back just as quickly, turning back to the strange device, "It's lovely to see you again," she continued over her shoulder to him, "Now, if you would excuse me for just a moment…" she began circling the device, a small frown crossing her face, not seeming to be very happy by it for some reason.

Clyde slowly stepped closer to her, "Ah, where am I and what's going on?" he questioned, shaking his head, waving a hand at the device, "And what is that thing?"

"This?" she pointed at the device, shrugging, "Oh, this is just a teleport device that allows the Doctor to lock on to the artron energy within you so that you can swap places," she sighed heavily, "But it's not quite working properly yet, so until then I'm stuck here until he can bring one last thing back to connect the circuits together. As for where you are, welcome to the Westland of the Crimson Heart".

He stared around, his eyes widening as, for the first time, he noticed the two moons in the reddish sky, "I'm on another planet," he breathed, amazed.

…..…. _ **Earth**_ …

"You bring him back…whoever you are!" Rani glared at the rather gangly looking man standing before them where Clyde ought to be, pointing a stern finger at him.

"No, no, no, Rani, don't you see?" Sarah Jane shook her head quickly, staring at the man in a new light. The man raised his head slightly higher, a soft smile crossing his face as he watched Sarah step closer to him, "It's you, isn't it?" she said hopefully, smiling as her eyes drifted over his new face and clothing, taking him in, "Oh, you've done it again".

"Hello, Sarah Jane," he grinned broadly at her, delighted to see her again. He only wished the Hatter could be here to see her, but she would be soon enough.

She raised her eyebrows hopefully, still smiling, "Doctor?"

"That's the Doctor?" Rani frowned, looking at him completely differently.

"What Doctor?" Jo questioned, glancing quickly to Sarah Jane and back again to the Doctor, " _The_ Doctor? _My_ Doctor?"

Sarah Jane shrugged slightly, holding out a hand towards the Doctor, "Yeah, well, he can change his face," she reminded her, wondering if the Hatter had forgotten to mention that to Jo.

"I know, but into a baby's?"

"Oi!" the Doctor mock exclaimed, pretending to be offended as he turned to Jo, "Imagine it from my point of view. Last time I saw you, Jo Grant, you were, what? Twenty one, twenty two?" he smiled slightly, "It's like someone baked you".

Jo gave him an offended look as Sarah Jane cleared her throat quickly, "Where's the Hatter?" she asked, deciding it would probably be a good idea to cut in.

"Oh, like I said, she's taking care of Clyde for the moment," he replied, waving her off, "She's going to be delighted to see you lot, though. She loves a good reunion…" he paused, reconsidering what he had just said, "Unless it includes the Master".

"Has she regenerated, too?"

He nodded, smiling broadly at the thought of the Hatter, "She's a brunet now with a love of pink and yellow, almost an obsession, if you ask me…"

"Everyone!" Santiago cut in loudly, nodding his head back up the hallway behind them, "Meanwhile…"

They all turned to find three Shansheeth heading towards them from down the hallway, not seeming to be very pleased.

"Ah, yes," the Doctor remarked, growing serious as he caught sight of them approaching, "The Claw Shansheeth of the 15th Funeral Fleet," he lightly pushed the humans aside and strolled down the hall towards them, really not pleased that they had just left him and the Hatter on a planet, taking off with the TARDIS, "I've been looking for you," he frowned deeply at them, "Have you been telling people that my wife and I are _dead_?"

"I apologise," the head Shansheeth said calmly, completely unconcerned, "The death notice was released a little too soon. Though I can rectify this for _you_ , immediately!" and it threw out its hand towards the Doctor, shooting him in his chest with a current of red energy. The Doctor chocked back a gasp of pain, stumbling on his feet before collapsing onto his knees, struggling to remain upright, trying to fight against the pain, "I'm so sorry for your loss, Doctor," the creature spoke again, almost sounding smug, "Rest in peace".

The Doctor struggled, trying so hard to fight against the pain, just trying to think of the Hatter, anything that might get his mind off the burning pain in his chest.

…..…. _ **Meanwhile**_ …...….…

Clyde watched the Hatter as she continued frowning at the device, circling it, the humming sound seeming to have grown louder and faster since he had first arrived, "Sounds like a countdown," he commented, still not entirely sure what the device really was.

Suddenly, there was another flash of blue artron energy and Clyde disappeared, the Doctor reappearing in his place, collapsing onto his knees, panting and clutching at his chest.

"Doctor!" the Hatter cried, running to his side and kneeling beside him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

He took a moment before responding, "Better now," he smiled at her, making her roll her eyes slightly, helping him back onto his feet. He brushed his knees down and straightened, his smile widening, "You'll never guess who I just saw".

She raised her eyebrows at him, "Who?"

"Jo Grant".

Her eyes widened in surprise, quickly replaced with delight as she broke into a bright smile, "Oh, good old Jo," she laughed, unable to wait until she got to see her again. She hadn't seen her since her engagement party, well, she supposed that they really ought to call her Jo _Jones_ now, but even still, she had always been rather fond of Jo. She had been one of the few people who had made being stuck on Earth during the seventies bearable.

He stepped over to the device, frowning deeply at it, "You'll be able to see her soon enough," he flashed her a bright smile, knowing how much she would be wanting to see Jo and Sarah again. He turned back to the machine, frowning again at it, "Faster, faster, faster!" he gave the device a shake, before turning back to the Hatter, kissing her quickly before she had time to even blink at him, "Be back soon, dear".

"Just be careful!" she called after him as he disappeared in another burst of artron energy, Clyde appearing in his place.

…. _ **Earth**_ ….….

Sarah Jane opened the door that locked off a section of the base, looking back down the hallway as the others hurried behind her, still being chased by the Shansheen, even when the Doctor had somehow managed to disappear and Clyde returned, looking quite shocked, saying something about having been on another planet with the Hatter. She stood back, ushering Rani, Santiago, and Jo through the doorway and into the next corridor, looking back, just in time to see the Doctor run through the door instead of Clyde. Her eyes widened in shock to see him back again, not moving to follow him in her surprise.

He paused, glancing back to Sarah Jane, "Come along, Smith!" he told her, and took off running after the others, leaving Sarah to follow behind him.

…..….…. _ **Meanwhile**_ ….…..…

The humming sound on the device began slowing as the Hatter groaned loudly, shaking the device, while Clyde watched on, "Oh, you had better hurry back, Doctor," she muttered, starting to grow slightly nervous now.

"I can still get back to Earth, right?" Clyde asked, looking between the device and back to the Hatter, noticing how worried she was looking, desperately trying to speed the machine up again.

She sighed heavily, glancing back to him, "At this point, yes," she nodded, before turning back to the device, eyeing it warily, "But this device still isn't working properly and unless we fix it soon, then, I'm afraid, we really are going to be in big, big trouble," she turned back to the device, closing her eyes tightly, "Come on, sweetheart," she murmured to herself, " _Come on_ ".

….….. _ **Earth**_ …..

They all dashed down the corridor, the Doctor leading the way, pausing at an open doorway to a room with two sets of bunkbeds inside, "In, in, in!" he urged them all, leaning back against the doorframe as he waited for them all to run inside the room, glancing back up the corridor to check that the Shansheen hadn't caught up with them yet.

"I'm sorry," a young women in a UNIT cap called, walking down the corridor from the other end towards them, catching the Doctor's attention, "Is there a problem?"

The Doctor dashed inside the room after the others, casting the women a quick frown as he closed the door on her face, before quickly pulling it back open, "Sorry, I was…" his frown deepened, narrowing his eyes at the women, "…slamming it," and he slammed the door shut once more, turning back around to face the others, "Right," he nodded as Sarah Jane moved to press her back against the door, too, "Now we need to lock it. Come on, use the sonic lipstick!" he clapped, turning to Sarah Jane.

Sarah Jane looked back to him, "Haven't you got the screwdriver?" she asked.

"They took it," he replied.

She sighed slightly and reached into her pocket, pulling out her sonic lipstick, turning to flash it at the door.

"Oh!" Jo grinned, looking delighted as she moved to take a closer look at the device in Sarah's hand, "They do sonic lipsticks now".

"We're running out of time," the Doctor remarked hurriedly, needing to get back to the Hatter, hating leaving her back on that planet, but at least she was safer there then where he was now, "I need you, Sarah…" he turned back to the two older women, taking their hands, "And you, Jo".

"Need us for what?" Jo looked at him eagerly, excited at the idea of another adventure.

"Remember the old days when we'd go zooming off to faraway worlds?" he smiled at them, and they disappeared in a flash of artron energy, appearing on the planet. He spun back around the face the device, hearing how slow the humming was, powering down. The Hatter looking up at their arrival from the other side of the device, a look of relief crossing her face, "No, no, no, no…" he shook his head at the device.

"Oh, thank goodness," the Time Lady smiled at him, "Now we can finally get this to start working properly…" she trailed off as she noticed Sarah Jane and Jo standing behind him, her smile widening in delight, "Sarah, Jo!" she cried, practically running around the device and throwing her arms around both women.

"Hatter!" Sarah Jane exclaimed, laughing as she hugged the Time Lady back just as tightly.

She joined in with Sarah Jane's laughter, pulling back to look at them properly, hardly noticing the fine lines around their faces, while they, in turn, took her latest regeneration in with interest, "It has been far too long, old friends," she said happily, focusing on Jo, "And you, Jo Grant…or rather Jones, it is simply wonderful to see you again".

Jo stared at her, "Hatter?" she said slowly, still not quite believing that the Doctor and the Hatter were back, standing before her. The Hatter smiled softly at her, playfully bopping her nose with a laugh, making her scrunch up her face, "You haven't change," she shook her head fondly.

The Hatter winked at her and whirled around, moving to join the Doctor at the device, leaving Sarah Jane and Jo to finally take a look around at the planet for the first time, their eyes widening in amazement.

"Where are we?" Sarah Jane asked, staring around at the desert landscape around them.

"The Westland of the Crimson Heart," the Doctor answered, pulling a cable out of the device, before standing, "Planet Earth's that way," he pointed behind them, and both women turned to look, "Bit of a long walk. Sonic, please," he looked back over to Sarah Jane, kneeling back beside the device.

"Wow," Jo breathed in awe, taking in the beautiful sight before her of the moons in the sky, the planet stretching out before them. Sarah turned around, taking in the view with a similar reaction, while the Hatter watched them both with a broad smile, pleased to see the same wonderment on their faces as they had all those years ago when they first started, "It's so many years since I was on another planet," she commented.

"Me too," Sarah Jane agreed quietly, not taking her eyes off the view.

The Doctor laughed along with the Hatter and stood, wrapping an arm around the Time Lady's waist as they watched them take in the sight for a moment, before returning to working on the device, flashing the borrowed sonic at it.

…

"Right there…" the Hatter instructed Sarah Jane as she knelt on the ground in front of the device, the Doctor and Sarah Jane beside her, carefully attaching wires with the sonic. She pointed again to another wire as she connected it into place, "And there…"

"Did it hurt?" Sarah Jane asked after a moment, looking between the Time Lords.

The Doctor glanced back to her, connecting another wire and pointing to it, "And there…" he said, knowing perfectly well what she was asking about, but trying to avoid answering.

She did as he directed and lowered the sonic, eyeing them closely, "I mean, the regeneration," she clarified, needing to know, especially after seeing the expression on the Doctor's face when he had rescued Luke from being hit from a car. She had known then that he was going to regenerate, and as for the Hatter, she couldn't help be curious to know what had happened to cause her most recent regeneration, "Those last bodies of yours, were they okay in the end?" she questioned.

The Hatter exchanged a look with the Doctor, taking his hand and holding it tightly. When she had regenerated, she had been so worried about how it might affect Amy and the Doctor that she hadn't fully allowed herself to worry about how it made her feel, not really. She hadn't wanted to go, but she hadn't feared it as much as the Doctor had, she had simply tried her hardest to accept what was happening in the moment because there was no point to trying to fight it, and if the Doctor could have gone through his own regeneration as bravely as he had, she could try her hardest to do the same.

"It always hurts," the Doctor said softly, looking away from her to point at another section of the device, "And there," he told her.

Sarah Jane glanced at the Hatter, who gave her a small, pointed look. She nodded, taking the hint to change the subject as she quickly flashed her sonic at the wire, "So how did you end up in this place?" she stood, casting her eyes around the planet again.

"Oh, that was all the Shansheeth's doing," the Hatter sighed, taking the Doctor's hand as he helped her to stand, before he grabbed a length of cables connected to the device, fiddling with it, "They lured us to this planet, knowing perfectly well that we couldn't resist exploring an old battlefield".

"Because we're travelling with Amy now," the Doctor added happily, "And Rory. They got married. We dropped them off at a honeymoon planet, which isn't what you'd think," he shook his head as the Time Lady watched him, amused at his rambling, "It's not a planet _for_ a honeymoon, it's a planet _on_ a honeymoon," he continued, "It married an asteroid. Then they nicked the TARDIS".

"The _Shansheeth_ , not Amy and Rory," the Time Lady cut in, and the Doctor nodded quickly, realising how that sounded. She cast her eyes around at all the debris scattered around, "And luckily, we did get lured to a planet covered in all this spaceship wreckage, because we could build a…"

"Space swapping doo-dah thingummy wotsit," he finished, grinning broadly, turning to look at the Hatter, who shook her head in amusement. She wasn't even going to bother trying to correct him.

"So, you've a married couple in the TARDIS?" Jo called from where she had taken a seat on a rock nearby, having been listening.

"Mister and Mrs Pond," he nodded, smiling again at the thought of Amy and Rory.

"I only left you because I got married," she admitted.

The Doctor frowned slightly, shifting uncomfortably as the Hatter absently brushed dirt off her skirt, taking his hand and giving it a comforting squeeze, recalling how upset he had been when Jo had decided to leave and marry. She didn't think she had seen him ever drink champagne so fast before then on the night of Jo's engagement party. She cleared her throat, glancing back to Sarah, "And there…" she directed her to another wire.

"Did you think I was stupid?" she asked, watching both Time Lords backs. While she might have technically have been the Doctor's companion, she had always felt like she was the Hatter's, too, after how much time the three of them spent together and all the adventures they went on together.

Both Time Lords turned around to face her, shocked by her question. The Hatter frowned deeply and walked around to stand closer to her, "Why do you say that?" the Doctor eyed her.

"Well…" she shrugged, smiling almost sadly, "I was a bit dumb. Still am, I suppose".

"Don't you dare say that," the Hatter said sternly, moving to take a seat on the rock across from Jo, reaching out to take both her hands. The Doctor moved to sit beside the Time Lady, "Never, ever say something like that about yourself, Jo," she went on, grasping her hands tightly, meeting her eyes firmly, "You are so much better than that, _so_ much better. Now, where is all of this coming from?" she searched her face, trying to figure out why she would put herself down like that.

She sighed slightly, looking between the Time Lords as they looked at her intently, concern in their eyes, "We'd been travelling down the Amazon for months," she began to explain, "And we reached a village in Cristalino, and it was the only place in thousands of miles that had a telephone, so I called you two," she smiled slightly, "I just wanted to say 'hello'. And they told me that you'd both left, left UNIT, never came back," her smile faded, growing sad, "So I waited and waited, because you both said you'd see me again," the Hatter sighed slightly, exchanging a quick look with the Doctor beside her, "You did, I asked you and you said 'yes,'" she continued, and they nodded in agreement, remembering that they had told her that they would see each other again, "You _promised_ , and the Hatter _never_ brake's her promises. So I thought, one day, I'd hear that sound, deep in the jungle, I'd hear that funny wheezing noise, and a big blue box right in the middle of the rainforest," she smiled slightly again, "'Cos, you see, they wouldn't just leave," she shook her head, "Not forever. Not _me_ ," she paused, laughing as she sniffed back tears, "I've waited my whole silly life…"

"Oh, but you're an idiot," the Doctor said fondly, shaking his head at her.

"Well, there we have it," she laughed, still sniffling as she waved her hands at him.

"No, no, no, but don't you see?" he smiled at her as the Hatter shook her head at Jo, a soft smile of her own crossing her face, "How could either of us ever find you?" he said to her, "You've spent the past forty years living in huts, climbing up trees, tearing down barricades. You've done everything from flying kites on Kilimanjaro to sailing down the Yangtze in a tea chest…"

"Something I highly approved of, by the way," the Hatter cut in, grinning broadly at Jo with a wink as the other women's eyes began to widen. She glanced at the Doctor, shaking her head in amusement, "With all of that going on, is it any wonder that even the TARDIS couldn't find you?"

"Hold on…" Jo said slowly, blinking in shock, staring at them both, "I did sail down the Yangtze in a tea chest!" she gasped, "How did you know?"

"And that family," the Doctor continued, "All seven kids, twelve grandchildren, thirtieth on his way," he shrugged, "He's dyslexic but that'll be fine. Great swimmer".

The Hatter pretended to cough, unable to resist, " _Gold medallist_ ".

Jo looked between them both, completely delighted as a smile spread across her face, "So you've been watching me all this time?" she asked, " _Both_ of you?"

"No," the Doctor admitted sadly as the Time Lady sighed, looking down. She had tried hard to keep an eye on all of their friends in the past, but it hadn't been until the last few years that she had managed to do so. The Time War really did hit home to her just how important it was to keep the people you love in your life, "Because you're right, I don't look back," he nodded, lowering his eyes as the brunet squeezed his hand, "I can't. But the last time I was dying, we looked back on all of you," he looked back up to Jo, " _Every single one_. And I… _we_ were _so_ proud".

Jo's eyes filled with tears, smiling at them as she shook her head slowly, "It really is you, isn't it?"

He smiled back at her as the Hatter laughed, "Hello!"

Suddenly, a loud whistle noise rang out, making them jump and turn to see Sarah Jane standing from a rock a short distance away, tucking a whistle back inside her jacket, "Sorry, but we've got that lot back at home with the Shansheeth," she reminded them.

"Oh, yes!" the Hatter quickly got back onto her feet, concern washing over her for the three teenagers that they had left behind. She began to walk back over to the device, glancing back to Jo, the Doctor moving to join her, "Now it's your turn, Jo, and I do believe that I can smell…" she paused, sniffing the air, trying hard not to grimace, "Blackcurrant," she raised her eyebrows, spinning back around to face Jo, "Let me guess, buchu oil?"

"Hand-picked in Mozambique," Jo nodded, standing and making her way over to her, rummaging around in her bag that was slung over her shoulder. She pulled out a small bottle and handed it to the Time Lady.

"Ah, excellent!" she flashed her a bright smile, unscrewing the lid, while the Doctor removed the top of the device, "These circuits need connectivity," she said, pouring a bit of the oil into the device.

"Wonderful!" the Doctor smiled, enjoying watching all his girls working together, just like the old days, "That's it," he nodded, and replaced the top piece of the device, sneaking a quick kiss the Hatter's cheek as she smiled, "What a team!" he remarked, looking back around to them.

"Now we just need to connect one last wire…" the Hatter muttered, kneeling by the device, quickly slotting the last wire into place before standing again, "And there we go, that'll do it," she grinned, waving her hands at the device with a flourish of her wrists, "One intergalactic molecular streaming device with a hint of blackcurrant thrown in," she paused, glancing at the Doctor, amused, "Now, that's got to be a first for me".

"Oh, but what'll happen to Clyde?" Sarah Jane questioned, casting the device a quick frown as it began humming again, fully activated.

"Oh, no, no, no, we've fixed it," the Doctor assured her, shaking his head, "All we needed was you two," he gestured to Jo and Sarah, "Oil and sonic. Now we can go back with the Hatter and Clyde can stay where he is," he took the Hatter's hand, moving around the device to stand between the two women, taking Sarah's hand with his free one, while the Time Lady took Jo's. He smiled at them, "Hold tight".

There was a flash of artron energy and they disappeared, appearing a moment later back in the bunkbed room that the Doctor and Sarah and Jo had left the teenagers in when they had zapped onto the planet. The Hatter groaned, reaching out to steady herself against the nearest wall while her other hand went to her stomach, closing her eyes tightly at the nauseating feeling that washed over her instantly. While the morning sickness hadn't kicked in quite yet, save for feeling a little unwell after first waking up, she had noticed now that she was aware of her pregnancy that she had been far more sensitive to teleporting lately, having simply fobbed it off as being overly sensitive in this regeneration. If this was what the morning sickness was going to be like and worse, she really wasn't looking forward to the coming weeks.

"Hatter, are you alright?" Sarah Jane's voice drifted over her, sounding concerned as she felt someone put a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles.

"Fine, fine…" she mumbled, taking a deep breathe, trying to push the sickening sensation away as she opened her eyes to find the Doctor standing beside her, rubbing her back with a small, concerned frown on his face, not seeming to be very surprised, while Sarah and Jo looked at her worriedly. She swallowed, trying to fix a smile to her face, "Just a little sensitive to things at the moment".

Jo eyed her slightly, a thoughtful expression crossing her face, but before she had time to open her mouth, a loud shout came from a vent on the wall across the room from them, "Get us out of here!" Clyde's urgent cry sounded.

"Sarah Jane!" Rani's voice followed.

"Doctor! Hatter!"

They hurried across to the vent, leaning close towards it, "Whoops!" the Doctor commented, trying to peer through the metal strips along the ventilation shaft. He glanced back to the Time Lady, "Then again, maybe leaving Clyde in the same place wasn't such a good idea".

"Look out, stand back!" Sarah Jane told them, and they moved back from the grating as she pulled her sonic lipstick from her pocket, flashing it at the vent. She and the Doctor grabbed the top of it and pulled it open.

"Ah!" the Doctor exclaimed, grinning as they moved back to look down the long, dimly lit, narrow space within the shaft that stretched on throughout the entire base, "Ventilation shafts," he playfully nudged Sarah Jane's side, recalling a time when she once got stuck inside one back in his Forth body, "That takes me back," he glanced at the Hatter, winking, "Or even forwards. After you, dear," he waved a hand towards the opening.

The Time Lady smiled at him, raising an eyebrow, "Why, thank you, kind sir," she mockingly tipped the brim of her hat to him with a curtsy, before taking her hat off, tucking it inside her pocket as she moved to climb inside the shaft, grateful for her tights as they cut down on the sudden coldness off the metal. The Doctor crawled in from behind her after a moment, shuffling along.

"Hurry up!" Santiago called up the shaft, sounding panicked, "We're getting boiled alive!"

"Don't worry!" the Hatter shouted, trying to sound reassuring as they continued crawling, trying to follow their voices, "We're on our way!"

"Don't worry, Santiago, I'm here!" Jo said loudly from behind them.

There was a brief pause as the Time Lords kept crawling, starting to feel the air growing warmer the deeper they went into the shaft, the metal becoming warmer against their knees and hands, when something banged behind them and followed by the sounding of struggling. They froze, trying to look back the way they had come in alarm and concern.

"Doctor!" Rani cried from up ahead, "Hatter!"

The Time Lords exchanged a quick look, awkwardly craning their necks around, trying to see what was going on back at the entrance to the vent, but it was useless. The entrance was hidden around a corner.

"Jo?" the Time Lady called back, very worried now.

"Sarah?" the Doctor tried, too.

Nothing. Neither women responded.

"They're roasting us!" Clyde yelled urgently.

"Let us out!" Rani screamed.

Torn, the Doctor looked quickly back towards the teenagers and then behind him. The Hatter sighed heavily, closing her eyes tightly, "We have to save the children," she said firmly, opening her eyes and meeting his, "Sarah and Jo will be okay, but those kids are going to…" she paused, wincing, "Die unless we get them out soon".

He nodded, knowing that she was right and besides, Sarah and Jo would want them to focus on the children before going to save them. They continued crawling through the shafts, until they reached a section that had been closed off by a trap door that they could feel the heating coming off as they neared it. On the wall beside the door was a small control panel and the Hatter quickly set to work taking the front off it, fiddling with the wires within as a red light blinked back.

"Doctor!" Clyde called from behind the door, "Hatter!"

"Just give us a moment!" the Doctor replied through the door, watching the Hatter.

It only took the Time Lady less than a minute to reverse the lock on the door, grabbing two of the wires and connecting them together, "And…release!" she announced brightly as the red light turned green, the door sliding up to reveal the three very hot looking teenagers and, much to their surprise, a little blue alien called a Groske standing within a small room that was glowing red from the heating.

"Blimey!" Clyde exclaimed, coming face-to-face with the Doctor for the first time as the Time Lords both gathered around the doorway, peering inside. He eyed the Doctor's face curiously, "You've really _have_ changed faces, haven't you?" he remarked, and he had thought that the Hatter's new face was different, "I couldn't see you before, I was too busy swapping".

"Oi!" Rani said loudly from behind Clyde, trying to fan herself with a piece of paper, "We're still cooking back here!"

"Where's my Gran?" Santiago asked worriedly, trying to looking behind the Time Lords for Jo.

"Goodness, you look very much like you Grandfather," the Hatter commented, finally getting a chance to see Santiago. The two really did look quite similar with the same curly, light brown hair, but she could also see a bit of Jo in his facial features.

The Doctor nodded to Santiago, remembering that they still needed to save Jo and Sarah, "Right, yes, sorry, uh," he began to move back from the doorway, glancing over his shoulders, "She's in danger, so we'd better, er…" he shook his head, realising that he couldn't turn himself around in the shaft, "Can't turn round…"

"We'll have to shuffle backwards," the Time Lady reasoned, having already come to the same issue of getting back out again.

"Oh, yes, okay," he smiled at her, pointing a finger at her, "Yet another reason for why I love you, you're always thinking ahead".

She returned the smile, shrugging, "Well, someone has to in this relationship," she replied cheekily.

He opened his mouth to say something before seeming to think better of it, simply shaking his head again with a small smile. He began to shuffle backwards, the Time Lady doing the same thing as Clyde climbed into the shaft facing them, while the others followed suit.

"Even your eyes are different," Clyde said in surprise and curiosity, noticing for the first time now that they were so close that the Hatter's eyes were now a hazel green, rather than blue. He glanced over her head, taking note of the Doctor's own green eyes instead of brown, "It's weird, 'cos I thought the eyes would stay the same," he went on, seeming completely fascinated by the whole idea of regeneration, "Can you change colour or are you always white?"

"No, we can be anything," the Doctor answered.

"Though, some of us are unlucky enough to always be damn pale," the Hatter cut in, annoyed just thinking about it. For once her life, it would be nice to have a complexion that didn't make her look like a sheet of paper or that she was allergic to the sun, even having an olive skin tone for once would make her happy. She still wondering if she shouldn't have just cheated like Romana had and picked out her own body, rather than leave it up to fate.

"And is there a limit?" Clyde asked, eyeing them both as they continued moving down the shaft, "How many times can you change?"

"Five hundred and seven".

"Oh," he nodded.

The Time Lady shook her head in amusement, "He's only teasing, Clyde," she informed him, casting a quick, almost approving look over her shoulder to the Doctor, "If you divide five hundred and seven into individual numbers and plus them together individually, you'll get twelve, which is how many times we can _actually_ change".

After a minute or so, they finally reached the shafts entrance and the Time Lords climbed out backwards, followed by the teenagers and the Groske, who Rani helped get down from the edge of the vent. A sudden mechanical whirring noise sounded from over their heads, making the Time Lords pause and look up at the ceiling.

"They've started," the Doctor said, listening to the sound for a moment, before grabbing the Hatter's hand, making a dash out the door and into the hallway. The others hurried along behind them.

They ran through the corridors, following the whirring noise until they reached a set of double doors, immediately trying to pull them open, but they wouldn't even budge.

"Oh, they've sealed the doors off!" the Hatter groaned loudly, trying to hit the thick, metal doors with her open hand, desperately trying to think of a way to get inside, "Hello? Sarah, Jo, can you hear us?" she shouted through the doors, pressing her ear against the surface of them, listening carefully.

"They want the key!" Sarah Jane called back quickly, "They've got the TARDIS, and a Memory Weave".

"I knew it!" the Time Lady cried, having guessed that they would use a Memory Weave right from the start.

"Too late," another women's voice came, the same one that the Doctor had slammed the door on earlier that day. He had known all along she was the UNIT employee working with the Shansheeth, "Full activation!" she commanded someone within the room.

"Concentrate," the gravelly voice of one of the Shansheeth ordered, "Think of the key".

The Time Lords exchanged a look, knowing perfectly well that the Memory Weave would end up killing both Jo and Sarah the moment it had completely literally dragging the TARDIS key out of their minds from their memories.

"Try to find a way in," the Doctor said hurriedly to the kids, while he and the Hatter ran across to a machine beside the doors, pulling the lower doors of it open, setting to work fiddling with the wires and cables inside, desperately trying to unlock the doors.

The kids ran closer to the doors, banging on them, trying to force them open, "There's nothing!" Santiago shook his head, looking back over to the Time Lords when the doors wouldn't budge, "We need a bulldozer".

The Doctor leaped back onto his feet and moved closer to the door, reaching inside his pocket to pull out his own TARDIS key, "I've got the original here!" he called through the door, tossing the key up into the air and catching it again, "You can have it if you let them go!"

"Somehow I doubt they're going to fall for that once, sweetheart," the Hatter sighed, still fiddling with the wires within the machine, not ready to give up trying to break into the room.

"You let them inside this room and they'll _destroy_ us," the women said sharply to someone within the room, "Keep going!"

"Think of the TARDIS," the Shansheeth ordered again, "The key, remember the key".

"Fight it, Sarah Jane," Jo's voice encouraged frantically, "Try to think something else".

"I can't!" Sarah Jane gasped.

"Neither can I!"

Clyde spotted a fire extinguisher on the wall and grabbed it, trying to hit the end of it against the doors, like a battering ram, "It's not shifting!" he shouted, shaking his head when he realised that he wasn't even making a dent.

"The memories coalesce!" the Shansheeth cheered suddenly, "The key, it takes shape!"

"Don't!" Jo cried out, "Don't!"

"I can't…stop," Sarah Jane breathed, her voice growing weaker.

Clyde dropped the fire extinguisher, "What do we do?" he asked urgently, turning to the Doctor and the Hatter as they knelt by the machine, thinking, "What do we _do_?"

"Do you think…" slowly, the Doctor looked at the Hatter.

The Hatter nodded thoughtfully, following the same train of thought, "Yes, that very well could work," she agreed, her mind racing, "The Shansheeth are making them remember…"

"I know!" Clyde shook his head at them, growing frustrated.

"But don't you see…?" the Doctor looked back over to him.

"I don't see anything!"

The Time Lady grinned, "That's exactly what we're going to do," she said brightly, scrambling back onto her feet as the Doctor did the same, hitting a button on the control panel before them, "Right, then. Opening comms.," she announced.

"Yes!" the Doctor broke into a smile, seeing a little green light go on, "Sarah, Jo, can you hear me?" he called over the link.

"The key!" Sarah Jane gasped out, her voice sounding strained, clearly giving everything she had to try and fight back against the Memory Weave, "It's almost ready!"

"You need to listen closely, okay?" the Hatter told them over the link as she and the Doctor hurried to stand by the doors, "You and Jo, you have to remember for us".

"We are doing!" Jo came over, sounding frightened, "That's the trouble!"

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor shook his head, very serious, "I want you to remember _everything_. _Every single day_ with me and the Hatter. Every single _second_ ".

"What's he doing?" the women demanded.

"You're memories are so much more powerful than you know," the Time Lady told them, ignoring the women, "They're the most powerful thing on this _entire_ planet".

"Just think of it, Sarah," he urged them, "Remember it, Jo. But properly," he closed his eyes and pressed the side of his head against the door, " _Properly_. Give the Memory Weave _everything_ ," he opened his eyes, meeting the Hatter's eyes with a smile, "Every planet, every face, every madman and women, every loss, every sunset, every scent, every terror, every joy, every Doctor and Hatter," he took the Hatter's hand, holding it tightly, "Every us".

"I remember," Sarah Jane cried, her voice still sounding shaky.

"No!" the women yelled.

"Memory Wave overloading," a computerised voice sounded.

"I remember," Jo breathed.

"We need that key!" the woman shouted to someone, "What is happening? What's happening?"

"Initial target lost," the computer announced.

"The device is overloading," the Shansheeth called, sounding worried now, "Too many memories. Too many!"

"Reverse it! Bring that key back!"

The Hatter turned to look back to the kids, smiling widely at them, "Come here!" she waved them over, moving back from the door to give them room, "Come on, tell them!" she encouraged them, "Remind them of all the things you've done together!"

The kids hurried forward, moving closer to the doors, while the Time Lords moved to stand behind them, "Think of us, Sarah Jane!" Clyde said loudly through the door, "Remember Maria and her Dad? And all the stuff we did, like the Gorgon!"

"And the clowns!" Rani added, grinning broadly, "And the Zodiac. Oh, and the Mona Lisa!"

"All of it!" Sarah Jane laughed, "All of it!"

"Just think, Gran!" Santiago called, "All the countries you've been to!"

"Every country in the world," Jo remarked happily.

The sound of something sparking came from within the room.

"Weave starting to self-destruct," the computer reported.

There was another sparking sound, "We've blown a circuit!" Sarah Jane said over the noise.

"I can't get out!" Jo shouted, sounding fearful again.

"I've got you!"

The Time Lords sighed, exchanging a grim look, "Now we're in trouble," the Doctor muttered, turning away from the doors, holding the Hatter's hand tighter, both very worried, "The Weaves going to blow up…" they turned back around to face the kids, "And we can't get them out".

"What?" Rani gasped, her eyes widening in horror.

"Can't escape!" the Shansheeth growled from within the room, "I need the key!"

"Weave now entering detonation phase," the computer announced.

"I can't unseal the doors!" the woman cried out over all the noise of banging and small explosions going off, "The power line is gone…" she suddenly screamed as another explosion went off.

There was a faint sound of a sonic screwdriver being used on the other side of the doors, when the sound spluttered and stopped completely, "We've drained it…" Sarah Jane breathed, sounding frightened for the first time all day. She started banging on the door, "Doctor! Hatter!" she shouted, and the Time Lords rushed back to the doors, pressing their hands flat against them, "We can't get out!"

The Hatter sighed heavily, pressing her forehead against the doors, "I'm so, so sorry, but we can't open them," she said softly, feeling her hearts breaking, desperately wishing for another way to save them.

"No sonic screwdriver…" she realised slowly, recalling the Doctor having to use hers earlier that day.

The Doctor closed his eyes tightly, "It's inside the TARIDS".

"And we can't get in, because guess what?" she laughed sadly, "We stopped ourselves getting the key. Oh, that was clever".

"I just want to say," Jo began, tears in her voice, "I'm so glad I saw you both again. I waited all this time, and it was worth it, just to see you both happy together," the Time Lords looked at each other sadly, the Hatter blinking back tears, "Every second," she continued, "Funny thing is though, your funeral turns out to be ours instead".

The Doctor's head snapped up, "Our funeral?" he repeated, looking quickly to the Hatter, who gasped in realisation.

"Doctor, Hatter, all of you," Sarah Jane added quickly, "You'll look after Luke for me, please".

"Don't you see?" the Hatter called, growing excited, her tears forgotten, "It's our funeral! Can't you see? _Our funeral_!"

There was a pause before…"With a lead lined coffin!" Sarah and Jo exclaimed in unison, catching on.

"Yes!" the Doctor grinned, laughing in delight along with the Hatter, knowing that they would be perfectly fine now if they could only reach the coffin in time. He frowned slightly, glancing back down to the Groske, "How much time have they got?" he asked.

"Big bang," the blue alien replied, shrugging, "Ten seconds".

The Hatter quickly looked around to the teenagers, grabbing Rani's hand, since she was closest, "We had best get somewhere safer," she said hurriedly, lightly pulling the girl along with her up the hallway, the others running behind them.

"Ten…nine…" the Groske began counting, still standing before the doors as the others took cover up the hallway, crouching on the ground behind the machine beside the doors, "…eight…seven…six…"

"Hurry up, Gran!" Santiago shouted, desperately hoping Sarah Jane and Jo would get in the coffin in time.

"…five…four…three…two…" the Groske seemed to realise it was standing in the blast zone, and took off running down the opposite end of the hallway, right before the Weave exploded and the doors were blasted off their hinges from the force, sending flames and bits of burnt paper flying out.

A moment past as the air was filled with smoke, making them all cough as the Time Lords slowly stood, moving out from their hiding place with the kids following behind them, trying to wave the smoke away. They moved closer to the open doorway to see that the room within was still burning in places, bits of machinery now completely destroyed, but the TARDIS that was sitting at the back of the room was completely untouched.

The Doctor paused in the doorway, glancing back to Rani, "What do you mean, the Mona Lisa?" he frowned, knowing perfectly well that the Mona Lisa was actually a fake. He had the original…or did he give that the Hatter for her birthday centuries ago? He couldn't remember, there was too many to keep track of.

"Yes, sounds like a very interesting story," the Hatter agreed, casting Rani a quick, curious look, making a mental note to find out the details later. She had been there when the Doctor had Leo make all the fake paintings. She and the Fourth Doctor, along with the Second Romana had gone for a little trip to Paris and she had mistaken the trip for the Doctor trying to admit his feelings for Romana. Looking back, she really should have known that he was really trying to tell her his feelings, not Romana. She gave herself a shake, glancing back to the Doctor, "But that's for another time," she said pointedly.

"Come," the Groske said, moving into the badly burnt room, waving his hand around to try and clear the smoke away from his face, "Smells like roast chicken".

The Time Lady grimaced slightly at the rather accurate way of describing the smell, trying very hard not to think about just why it smelt that way, while also trying to avoid hitting her head on dangling wires from the ceiling. Great, yet another regeneration who was off eating chicken.

"Now, then," the Doctor commented happily, catching sight of the lead lined coffin sitting off to the side of the room, stepping over to it with the brunet beside him, "Smith and Jones," he smiled, lifting the heavy lid to reveal the two women tucked safely inside, hugging each other tightly. Slowly, they looked up to see them all standing around the coffin and began laughing in relief.

"Well, this worked out rather well," the Time Lady smiled at the two, pleased to see them apparently enjoying themselves, completely unharmed, as far as she could tell, "The coffin was not only the trap, but also the solution".

"That's so neat, I could write a thesis," he shook his head, looking amused, the Hatter nodding in agreement. He looked back down to still laughing women, "Well, come on then, you two," he waved a hand at them to get out, "Out you get," but they simply continued laughing and hugging each other, overjoyed to be alive, making everyone else join their laughter, too. He wrapped an arm around the Hatter's waist, grinning, "Yes…"

"Well, it's nice to see that not all your companions feel threated by each other," the Hatter lightly nudged his side, thinking back to when Rose and Sarah Jane had first meet. Now that had been unpleasant, until they started giggling madly, comparing the Doctor's quirks.

He looked back to her, smiling gently, "Isn't it," he nodded, kissing her quickly.

….

The Time Lords landed the TARDIS in Sarah Jane's attic, saying goodbye to the teenagers, the Hatter once again managing to snag a hug from a rather reluctant Clyde before the three left the console room, carrying their bags. Once they had left, the Hatter turned back to watch Jo as she circled the console, taking the room in with a wide smile.

"Still the same old TARDIS," she remarked fondly, moving around to where the Doctor and the Hatter where leaning against the console, hand-in-hand, while Sarah Jane admired the controls, too, "It doesn't matter what's changed, it still smells the same…" she paused, inhaling deeply and closed her eyes, savouring the smell.

The Hatter smiled at her, taking a long sniff of the air, too, "Like a mixture between peppermint and engine grease," she agreed, before pausing, taking another sniff as they all looked at her, "With just a hint of jelly babies thrown in".

"Do jelly babies even have a smell?" the Doctor asked, casting a sideways, amused look.

"Trust me, from someone who spent almost an entire regeneration eating them with every meal, I would know the smell of jelly babies anywhere".

Jo laughed, shaking her head at the Time Lady, "No," she said firmly, seeming to be talking more to herself as she cast another look around the room, "I've got to say goodbye, or else I'd stay with you forever," she smiled, turning back to the Time Lords, "Besides, I probably couldn't keep up any more," she laughed slightly, sharing a quick look with Sarah Jane, "Get you both into trouble with the Time Lords".

Both the Doctor and the Hatter tensed, exchanging a quick look as he cleared his throat, looking down, "Hmm…yeah, we'd probably better go…" he turned back around to face the controls, really not wanting to get into the Time War with Jo, not when she seemed to be so happy, "You know us," he shrugged, glancing back over to them, "Stuff to do".

"Including having a child," Jo commented slyly, making them both look back to her so fast that their necks cracked, their eyes widening in shock. Sarah Jane blinked, looking confused as she looked back and forth between the Time Lords and Jo.

"How…" the Hatter began, her voice sounding higher pitched than usual, completely stunned. She tried clearing her throat, giving herself a sharp shake, "How could you possibly have known that?" she questioned, managing to regain a bit of composer, at last.

She shrugged, still looking at them slyly, "I've had seven children," she reminded them, "I know the sings. You looked green when we got back to Earth and for someone like you, you should be used to teleporting around the place. And then you could smell my buchu oil from several feet away, even for a Time Lords nose that would be hard to do".

"Wait…" Sarah Jane cut in, a small smile crossing her face as she turned to face the Hatter, "You're pregnant?"

The Hatter glanced back to the Doctor, who was still staring at Jo as if he had never seen her before. She gave him a light nudge, managing to snap him out of his shock and turned back to smile broadly at the other two women, "Yes," she admitted, laughing faintly, "I am".

Sarah's smile grew wider, looking completely delighted, "Oh, congratulations!" she cried, stepping forward and throwing her arms around the Time Lady, hugging her tightly for a moment before releasing her to hug the Doctor, too.

"You're not upset with me for giving it away, are you?" Jo asked, growing slightly worried as she moved to hug the Hatter.

"Of course we aren't," the Doctor assured her as Sarah moved back from. He paused, glancing quickly to the Hatter, "We aren't, are we?" he said in a slightly panicked tone of voice.

" _No_ ," the Hatter shook her head, casting him an amused look as she pulled back from Jo, still keeping her hands on her shoulders as she meet her eyes, "We aren't in the slightest. In fact, I'm glad you both know, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way".

"You must be so excited," Sarah said, still smiling broadly at them both. She couldn't have been happier for them both and after everything they had gone through, they both deserved to have a child together. It wouldn't make up for what they had lost, not ever, but it would go a long way in helping them to recover from the loss of their families.

"Excited and terrified".

"Oh, you have nothing to worry about," Jo waved the Time Lady off, "You've both been parents before, you know everything you need to know already," her eyes lit up in delight suddenly, "Your children must be so happy to be getting a new brother or sister…" the Hatter inwardly winced, struggling to keep the smile on her face as she felt the Doctor take her hand, holding it tightly, "And your parents," she continued, completely oblivious, "Another Grandchild on the way…"

The Doctor cleared his throat quickly, "Yes, well, we, uh…" he glanced back to the Hatter, deciding it was best to get off the subject now that it had entered into that territory, "We've got plenty to take care of in the meantime," he turned back towards the controls, trying to look busy.

Sarah Jane glanced at the Hatter, seeing the forced smile on her face, and quickly decided that it would be best to move on to something else completely, "It's daft, though," she said slowly, giving the Hatter a small smile as she sent her a grateful look, "Because we were both saying, we had this theory that if either of you ever died…" she looked between the Time Lords, "We'd feel it, somehow we'd just _know_ ," she leaned slightly closer towards them, genuinely curious, "But that's just silly, isn't it?"

"I don't know," the Doctor turned to face them, exchanging a quick look with the Hatter, "Maybe not. Because between you and me, if that day ever comes, I think the whole Universe might just shiver," he was silent for a long moment, before he suddenly jolted forward, "Boo!"

Sarah Jane and Jo both jumped, startled.

The Hatter laughed, raising her open hand up and high fived with the Doctor, who was grinning cheekily back to the two human women, feeling quite proud of himself for pulling that little trick off. Realising what he had done, both women began laughing and, exchanging one last round of hugs before heading for the door, Jo closing it behind her. They turned back to the controls and set them off.

"What a very interesting day," the Hatter remarked, moving to take a seat on the jump-seat, still not quite believing that it had only been twenty four hours since she had sat there, telling the Doctor that they were going to have a child.

The Doctor flopped down on the seat beside her, "I seem to recall you making a joke about children the last time we saw Sarah," he said, raising any eyebrow at her.

She laughed, "Funny how things turn out".

And with that, she leaned forward and kissed him.

 _ **I can't believe that's the end of this story, but you won't have to wait long for the next, which will be called 'Family Affairs' for everything that happened with Amy, Rory, and River, along with what's happening with the Time Lords and other things that you'll have to wait and see. I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read, review, alert, and favourite this story. It has meant so much to me that you have enjoyed the stories and I can't thank you guys enough.**_

 _ **I really loved writing this chapter with Jo and Sarah, Sarah Jane has got to be my all-time favourite companion, so even if Sarah Jane's show might have ended, I personally still believe that Sarah Jane's character lives on, saving and protecting planet Earth from her attic. I just loved writing Sarah, Jo, and the Hatter's interactions. Those three, I can just imagine the Doctor getting embarrassed and teased by the three of them telling each other stories about him.**_

 _ **The story will be posted in the next few hours, so keep an eye out for that. Tell me what you thought, please review :)**_

 _ **Guest reviews:**_

 _ **Guest:**_ _ **Well, I'm afraid that we've gone past being able to do that in this story, but I have considered doing a one-shot about what would happen if the Hatter lost her memory for a little while, but we won't be seeing that happen in the main story. Thanks for the suggestion and review :)**_


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